Collision
by crowskisses
Summary: Everyone knows how Vilandra betrayed her family, but few know of Rath's betrayal. This is the tale of how Rath's life begins to catch up with Michael in a deadly time. MichaelMaria and lots of lovely Kyle.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own nothing, its all Melinda Metz, the WB or Fox and defintely not mine. No money is being made. blah blah.

Rating: PG-13

Summary: Michael's past as Rath starts to catch up to him and past betrayals begin reappearing.

Author's Note: Set in the beginning of Season 2 when the Skins are around, as well as Courtney. First fic and if anyone wants to Betaread just let me know. Or if you know of other places to post ongoing Roswell fanfiction, feedback is ALWAYS welcome!

Everyone knows her story, it has become legend. It has been written in the stars. The whole galaxy knows how Vilandra betrayed her fiancee, family and her race but few know of Rath's story. His, possibly the greatest betrayal of all, remains secret only known to a select few. It runs deeper and darker than Vilandra's ever could have. Rath's choices changed a pattern that had begun when the stars first began to flicker. XonRath son of Tuluk betrayed the Gods for a love that was never meant to be. This is the story of how Rath's betrayals will rock the world of his predecessor.

The day dawned like any other over a small desert town in New Mexico. The sun rose at a leisurely pace unaware of the changes his cycle might see during the course of the day. Or perhaps he knew and rose slowly so as to give a more moments of blessed peace before lives would change irrevocably.

Michael Guerin's sleep was troubled; his dreams filled with ominous foreboding that would carry over into his waking hours. Whether this prescience came from his alien-genie powers or merely the human's sixth sense he would never know. He began his Saturday like any other; sleep in late, breakfast, some TV then off to work the afternoon to closing shift at the Crashdown.

Locking his apartment door a flicker of something stirring in breeze caught his eye. Michael reached over to his windowsill and picked up the snakeskin like wafer thin substance. It disintegrated away in his hands. His eyes narrowed and he spat, "The Skins are getting closer."

Michael Guerin entered the Crashdown to find Maria muttering about wearing stupid antennae headbands and fixing the offensive object upon her head to her liking using her locker mirror. Michael walked over to his own locker without greeting, cutting straight to the point. "Maria, I don't want you going out alone anymore. The skins are getting closer. I found a shedding outside my apartment this morning."

"I'm not alien, they're not interested in me. Have you told the others yet?" Maria began sulkily, but finished on a curious note.

"Not yet, I'm thinking a meeting tonight after closing."

"I have plans," Maria said, though she really didn't. She merely wanted to avoid a post-Destiny awkward tension charged meeting.

"So change them," Michael snapped.

Before she could reply in sauntered Courtney. "Hey, Mikey G. Looking good today."

"You're on the clock, Courtney. Go outside and be a good little waitress," Maria snapped.

Something darkened in Courtney's blue eyes, something that ran deeper than a passing dislike. Something darker than a mere competition for a boy. "I'm on my break. Besides your shift just started."

It was a fairly slow part of the night. The dinner crowd was starting to thin out, leaving only a handful of customers and a booth full of teens. In the booth sat Max, Isabel, Alex, Kyle and Tess quietly discussion their enemy.

Liz watched a small child spill his third cup of juice and sighed. "Maria we're almost out of napkins here. Can you to the back and get some more?"

"No problem, chica."

Maria walked into the back and grabbed a pack of napkins humming a nameless tune. On her way out of the storeroom she was passing through the break room when suddenly the hair on the back of her arms stood up. She was grabbed roughly from behind and a large, peeling hand was clamped over her mouth. Maria felt herself pulled taut against a large body and the pressure of a cool, sharp metal pressed against her throat.

As reality began to come crashing down upon her stunned countenance she felt her body begin to erupt in fine, uncontrollable tremors. Her scattered, terrified thoughts began racing through her mind. "He's gonna kill me! Liz will be devastated. What about my mom? I should have listened to Michael. I can't die, I'm too young. Virgins never die in the horror movies! OMG."

Maria felt herself start to hyperventilate, but her inner turmoil was abruptly cut off by the sound of a gruff voice and a roaming hand. As he spoke his hand idly roamed Maria's body, stopping only for a squeeze of her chest. "I have a message for your King. Tell him his end is near and this time it will be permanent. Tell _Your Majesty_, that if he gives us the Granolith we will spare the humans. This is his only warning."

Maria's eyes widened as she comprehended what his final statement meant as she felt him take a mighty thrust and impale the dagger deep into her stomach. Her mouth moved in a silent "Oh" as her hands clutched and unclenched the napkins she was grasping before letting them fall to the floor. Maria felt him give her a final shove and her shaky legs collapse underneath her. Maria could barely comprehend any of this through the haze of pain that was constantly rising in her body. She rolled onto her back and felt hot sticky blood seeping through her uniform, and hands in exactly the same spot Liz Parker was shot a year ago.

"Help." Maria's voice was too low to have even qualified for a whisper. She lay dying in the backroom of the Crashdown with all of her best friends merely yards away.

Michael was busy flipping burgers when his earlier feelings of unease started to creep up on him. He shook his head trying to clear his thoughts; it was no use. He decided it was time for a break. "Liz, I'm taking my break" Michael yelled.

"Fine, will you see what's taking Maria so long to get the napkins first?"

Michael sighed; he really didn't want to deal with Maria right now. "Fine." He walked into the back room taking his apron off. "Maria? Liz needs those nap…MARIA!"

Michael felt all of the blood drain from his heart at the sight before him. There was Maria splayed on the floor in a growing pool of her own blood. Her skin was deathly pale and her hands congregated over a wound, and there was a knife protruding out of her stomach. Her long hair was fanned out around her like Ophelia's. The only object not coated with blood were ironically, the napkins.

He immediately dropped down to the floor next to her. "Maria? Maria? Baby I'm sorry.. You've got to open your eyes." Michael felt his control spiral quickly away as all the lights in the restaurant exploded and lockers started flying open.

Liz ran into the back and stopped short, "Michael the lights went out. What happened? Oh my God, Maria!"

To her dying day Liz would never forget the sight that met her eyes that September day. Maria, her friend, her sister in everything except blood; her frister lay dying in a tacky alien outfit drenched in her own blood. The scene was oddly reminiscent of her own near death experience. Over her hovered a sight Liz would have never guessed. Michael Guerin, once known for being dark, intense and very detached, now had desperate tears stealing passage down his devastated face. His body shook willing Maria to him with incoherent mumblings of her name and pleads to open her eyes. Michael's eyes glanced up and met hers, in that instant Liz saw the end of the world. Emotions so deep and intense that Liz couldn't even begin to identify them swirled through his darkening eyes. "Get Max" he spat out.

Liz turned and fled.

They we're talking and laughing. It was one of the few worry free moments they'd had since Nacedo told them that their enemies were among them. Courtney came by and asked, "What's so funny?"

Isabel rolled her eyes and sighed before answering. "Kyle was enlightening us to our personalities according to Buddha."

"Ah," pause "Well do yall need anything else while I give my order to Mikey G?"

"No."

Alex shook his head as Courtney sauntered off, "She better back off of Mikey G, if she knows what's good for her. Maria will rip her head off and eat it for breakfast if she keeps it up."

Before anyone had time to reply the lights suddenly exploded causing everyone to duck. After a second Max stood up. "Everyone OK?"

"Yeah. Wonder what happened?"

"What about Liz?" Max asked.

"Let's go check on Michael, when his emotions are intense….." Isabel started at the same time Max began to talk. Before she could finish Liz ran up to them with tears about to burst from her eyes.

"Max, come quick.."

"Liz slow down, tell me what's wrong" Max began as Liz started to drag him away.

"No time. Maria's dying and Michael is losing it."


	2. Chapter 2

Collision part 2

Disclaimer: I own nothing, its all Melinda Metz, the WB or Fox and defintely not mine. No money is being made. blah blah.

Rating: PG-13

Summary: Michael's past as Rath starts to catch up to him and past betrayals begin reappearing.

Author's Note: Thanks for all the reviews I got! LucreziaNoin86, Red-rumm, Candylovin Fehrian, Magali; Ya'll make my world of Roswell characters go round. Thanks for the encouragment and advice and other places to vote. This part has alittle bit of Antar on it so if you get confused ask me!  
Set in the beginning of Season 2 when the Skins are around, as well as Courtney. First fic and if anyone wants to Betaread just let me know. Or if you know of other places to post ongoing Roswell fanfiction, feedback is ALWAYS welcome!

He was on his knees holding her tightly; their faces were inches apart. Maria's eyes were barely open, locked onto Michael's. Her lips were moving with more blood leaving her mouth at every whispered word. They were connected, in a state between life and death, this life and the last. They were held there by power, by love, by resentment and by fear.

Michael's heart was racing but he wasn't aware of it. Moments seemed to stretch into eternity, an eternity where only Michael and Maria existed. He pulled her closer and their breaths mingled this scene, this frozen moment of her dying slowly in his arms and him unable to stop it all felt so familiar. As if they'd been through it many times.

He felt his stonewall, all his shields drop away as they connected. They were one, a complete whole being. Michael was filled with a feeling of completeness and desperation to keep this feeling.

Maria was trying to speak, "It's always been you, since that first moment I've been loyal only to you…" she was struggling to speak, coughs full of blood stopping the words from coming out fully. Michael watched as her pupils darkened to black and expanded past normal human limitations. He knew looking into her eyes he wasn't just looking at Maria anymore. He felt the changes in him at her words, doors coming unlocked and memories that weren't entirely his pushing to the surface.

His voice cracked with emotion and with a timber to deep to be purely Michael's picked up Maria's words where her strength failed her; "I'll be loyal to you in death, following your soul to the next life. Promise me that next time," he choked back a sob, "next time you'll follow your heart and ignore destiny.."

They were lost in an old connection, their souls singing in harmony as they relived another time, another place where the same words were spoken.

……………………………

A collective gasp rose as they all headed for the break room. The break room was in total chaos; loose items (magazines, shoes) were swirling around the room in a circular motion, the TV had exploded. In the center of the impromptu tornado were Michael and Maria. He was on his knees holding her tightly; their faces were centimeters apart. Maria's eyes were barely open, locked on his and her struggles to speak were interrupted by blood. His tears were dripping on her face.

Max had never seen Michael like this, and hoped to God that he never did again. He rushed over to Maria, shoving his horror and anxiety down deep. Her eyes weren't right, her aura showing something deeper, but Max didn't have time for that. He went into healing mode. "I need the knife out once I'm connected. Not too soon or she'll bleed out before I can heal her."

Liz nodded, swallowed the knot that formed in her throat and determinedly gripped the knife. Max concentrated on forming a connection but Michael was already connected leaving no room for him. Glancing up he saw Michael's tears dripping on Maria's face as he kissed her. Max grabbed his arm and instantly, without any barriers, connected through Michael. He felt Maria's pain, their pain, as Liz ripped the knife out. He started the healing process mending the wound and transferring energy from himself and Michael to stimulate production of more blood. Then he was lost to the flashes.

…………………………….

Max wasn't sure if the memory was Michael's or Maria's but he was sure that it wasn't from this lifetime. She was beautiful, in an unearthly, gossamer way, but beautiful all the same. Her hair was unbound and seemed to move of its own accord. It floated and twisted around itself forming a fiery cloud around her body, all the way to her kneecaps. What was more striking than her beauty was her voice; it pealed in pure joy. A laughter so true and filled with her honest emotions that it instantly lifted his, their, spirits. She was a nightingale with a voice that could make the stars weep or planets dance in exultation. It was a voice that could keep no emotions secret. "Rath? We've got to go see Zan."

"Zan can wait for once." Max felt the voice coming from himself, the memory must be Michael's he realized.

"But I can't wait." Her voice was barely a whisper so full of desolation and denial that his world shook to its very foundations. He reached out, as if in slow motion, to catch her falling figure.

"Qaelia! What's wrong? You can't leave me." Rath eased her down, reveling in the softness of her skin with worry evident in the deep tones of his voice.

"Everyone leaves me.." he spoke it so softly, merely as an afterthought. But it meant much much more to him.

...The flash changed quickly...

She was confused Michael was disconcerting her. He was so annoying and confusing and she was utterly curious. "All right, how about just one personal question? You know, since I didn't turn you in back there. Why is it so important to you to find out where you come from?"

Maria was holding her breath, unsure if he would answer and afraid of what he would say. She felt something coming and it felt familiar.

"Because there's gotta be something better out there for me than Roswell, New Mexico." He sounded like it was the last thing he wanted to be admitting, especially to her.

An excited giggle escaped her lips before she could stop it. Somebody finally understood her in a way that Liz and Alex never could.

"You think that's funny?" He sounded ticked and maybe even a little wounded.

"No, no. It's just, um...when I was a kid, I used to stay up at night and, um, make up stories about my father...you know, and who he was and...what he was doing. And they all ended exactly the same way. He would come in a limo and pick me and my mom up and take us off to some exotic place where we'd live like royalty. Because, you know...I thought to myself...there's got to be something better out there for me than Roswell, New Mexico." She was surprised she'd just told him all of that. Wasn't this the guy she was terrified of just a few days ago, she felt that fear slip away with the understanding they shared. She saw him give her a grin, for once not guarded or sardonic.

...The flash changed again...

She was in the middle of a battlefield singing laments for the fallen. Her voice was so full of grief and sorrow, of celebration for life and of forgiveness that he could almost see the souls rising up to the Gods. He could certainly feel them on their final passage of this life. She was busy, he reasoned, she'd never miss her transport vehicle, xehg. He snuck over to it and leaped in starting the engine in one fell swoop. Before he could go anywhere he felt another weight plop into the seat next to him.

"What do you think your doing? This is MINE. You can't steal it.."

"I outrank you, priestess I need it to get to the King." Who did she think she was to talk to him that way, he could feel the anger rising in his veins.

"Listen up soldier boy, wherever it goes I go. You don't outrank me, I'm not in your little military thing."

OK now he was pissed. He was going to have her reprimanded so bad if she didn't shut her mouth. "Solider boy? Who do you think you are? I'll have you know I'm second in command only to the king. I could have your head, priestess." Wow, that sounded pretentious. He glanced angrily over at her while keeping the xehg moving steadily. She'd slipped her cloak off that was when he first saw the circlet on her head and interwoven symbol on her robe. By the holy Granolith, he'd just insulted one of The Chosen.

...Yet a new flash from a lifetime past...

"You shouldn't be here, Rath." She said looking through the window that separated them. He was dark, there was no other way to describe him. Dark hair, dark eyes, dark clothes, dark personality. Her mind, their mind, flashed to words she'd once heard used to describe the Commander. "A long time ago, many many cycles of the sun before we were civilized the Commander, in a past life of course, angered the Gods. So now wherever he walks toe Sun refuses to shine on his countenance." She could see why the masses feared him slightly.

"You don't belong here.." her resolve was weakening under his dark stare.

"Neither do you." It was the truth. She opened the window.

...One final flash before the healing was complete...

She was driving him insane with all her babbling that he couldn't stop tapping. He should be the one meeting River Dog not Max and certainly not Liz.

"I.. I hate you!" she exploded.

"Ditto!" He was going crazy watching her glossy lips move like that. Michael was secretly proud he could drive her to such extremes.

"You know, all I ask of you is just to try to make me feel better, you know, be a guy or whatever. Forget it. I have obviously tried to bark up the wrong tree."

She was barking up the wrong tree. He wasn't good with words; he vibrated. He watched her walk away, impulses, desire, rising up within him. He hopped from the counter without a thought, it was like he couldn't control himself. Spinning her around he kissed her. All his frustration and pent up emotions came crashing through a collision of lips.

"That was to calm you down." What had he just started? And why did it fell so damn good?

………………………………………………

Liz watched anxiously as Max healed Maria, the bloody dagger dangling forgotten in her hand. She watched as sweat formed on Max's brow and listened as he grunted. She couldn't tell if it was working through all the blood. She needed to let some of her emotions out, to break this horrible silence of waiting they were stuck in. "I'm worried about Maria. Who would have done this to her?"

Nobody noticed the door from the restaurant creak open and a blond head poke in. Alex engulfed Liz in a hug, rubbing her back reassuringly. They all stopped short at the sight in front of them. An image, superimposed itself above Maria and Michael for a minute. A very alien image. It was too fast to make out except for the glint of a circlet and a flash of long hair from the ground and the shine of a weapon, and glint of rings, at the side of the dark male. Isabel's eyes narrowed, "What the Hell? Michael!"

They all stared at the three figures clustered on the ground afraid it would happen again and terrified it wouldn't. Courtney's eyes widened in horror and understanding as she stared at where the image had been. She slipped away quietly to confirm her growing suspicions.

"What was that? I thought Maria was human." Kyle asked.

Max sat up gasping, dripping in sweat. Michael was stroking Maria's face. Maria didn't open her eyes or stir at all. Nobody moved for a moment.

"Is she.." Liz could barely get the words out, but had to know.

"She'll be fine, just needs to rest and produce some more blood. She'll wake up in awhile I think." Max answered.

Tears overspilled Liz's eyes as she reached for Maria and caught a territorial glance from Michael, who was meticulously smoothing her hair away from her face. Liz ignored him and reached out to touch the spot where the knife had been. Michael knocked her hand away, "You'll hurt her."

"Michael, your not the only one who cares about Maria. So deal. Me and Isabel and Tess are gonna take her into the bathroom and clean her up before we take her somewhere to rest. You're going to clean up this room." Liz exploded then went into a 'take control of the situation' mode.

"I'll clean her up and take her to my apartment." He said getting up and stalking towards the bathroom with Maria protectively cradled in his arms.

Liz and Isabel quickly followed and as soon as he set her down Isabel used her powers to force him out of the room and shut the door. "I don't Maria wants you seeing her unclothed yet."

"Fuck you." Was the only response heard through the door.

Michael glared around the room. Tess was fixing the TV and Kyle was picking up various items strewn around the room. Max was washing his hands. Michael's eyes landed on the spot where she had almost died. There was so much blood, blood everywhere and on everything. He couldn't take it. Too many emotions, too much blood, too much history. He grabbed the nearest trashcan and began to retch. Over and over again he emptied his stomach. He felt Tess rubbing his back and heard her murmuring, "It will all be all right. Shhh, let it out."

It will all be all right, a lie and he knew it.


	3. Chapter 3

Collision Part 3

Disclaimer: I own nothing, its all Melinda Metz, the WB or Fox and defintely not mine. No money is being made. blah blah.

Rating: PG-13

Summary: Michael's past as Rath starts to catch up to him and past betrayals begin reappearing.

Author's Note: Thanks for all the reviews I got! LucreziaNoin86, Red-rumm, Candylovin Fehrian, Magali, gretita, keirah, NaleyBop; Ya'll are amazing inspiration and make my day so great. Ok so the title Collision comes from teh Howie Day song "Collide" bc if you actually listen to the lyrics its very much Michael and Maira talking to each other. Thanks for the encouragment and advice and other places to post. This part has alittle bit of Antar on it so if you get confused ask me. I always welcome questions and all that grand stuff. on a final note if you sent me a link of where to post this my computer messed them all up so if you could send it again i would cherish it! Enjoy. Next part will come sooner than this one did.

Courtney wandered around lost in thought. She was pondering what'd she'd just seen in the Crashdown and how, if it were true, it would change everything. Her mind drifted to Antar and to the Chosen who were so integral to the planet's religion and interplanetary politics. They were sent directly from the Gods, no birth, no original sin, just children of about six cycles who wandered in from the Holy Lands to the West. It was where they'd gotten the idea of how to protect the royal four. The Chosen were immediately recognizable to all that beheld them by their reflective eyes and tattoos that covered the right arm. On Antar there had been ten Chosen living when the troubled times began. They were odd, too odd and too recognizable to ever blend in. Some were odder than most, but they who were supposed to help a planet could never really experience what everyone else did, Courtney had always thought it was a pity. They were gifted, each had a special gift to give to the planet and each came with a mission or a message. Xon, the Elemental, could control the weather and was sent to warn Antar from trying to use a neighboring star as their experimental site.

Courtney had always been awed by them, by the ease at which they stood out and the ease that they could unite people or tear them asunder. Few people on Antar had that presence about them, a presence that books no room for argument. The Commander had possessed it, possessed the background and character to unite their fractured world but he had stood by his King and died an unnecessary death. He'd caused a lot of unnecessary deaths, in her mind, if he had taken power Kivar wouldn't have caused civil war, war that still enveloped their world because not everyone would follow Kivar. If she could only get Michael back to Antar he'd fix everything, she knew, he'd fix the family that'd been torn asunder by war. Her world would be perfect once again. It's why she hated Maria so much; she stood in the way of Michael ever leaving this wretched planet.

If Maria had a past life as one of the Chosen then that would alter Skins plans radically, they couldn't lay a hair on her once blessed head or by relation the Royal Four if they were so favored by the Gods as to have had a Chosen one sent with them to earth. Courtney walked into the meeting place, an apartment across the street from Michael's. It had a perfect view to see what was going on inside his apartment.

……………………

They were all seated or standing in Michael's dinky living room. Maria was settled, still sleeping, in a nest of pillows and blankets on the floor. Kyle hurried in the door as the last member to arrive having stopped off at the sheriff's station. He looked at Maria, furrowed his brows and said "So why is Maria on the floor.. instead of in the bed one room over?"

"Because for now nobody is alone, not for a second." Max stated.

"And because Michael won't let Maria out of his line of sight." Isabel chimed in, secretly loving seeing Michael caring so much about someone.

"We need to call Nacedo this is out of our league, " Tess began.

"Are we sure its alien related and not just some crazy?" Alex asked, even he could hear the hope in his voice. Silence prevailed for a moment. Max looked at Michael.

"Either way we need to call him. There are other developments he needs to be aware of" Max's voice rang with authority he didn't feel.

"What developments?"

Was that a note of hysteria in Liz's voice Max wondered. How did he say something that would break the bonds that had begun to reform today after Destiny tore them apart. Would, 'Well, Maria just joined the 'I had a past life on an alien planet which makes me a huge target for some race of enemies club'' cut it. He didn't think so. He was saved from answering, not by the bell, but by a stirring from the floor. She was mumbling in her sleep and abruptly sat up, peaked open her eyes and looked directly at Michael. It was one helluva look. She rose trancelike to her feet with her blanket trailing behind her and still mumbling wandered over to Michael. Maria, with a barely intelligible mumble of "sleep with you, feel better.." curled up against him, settling herself partially in his lap with her blanket and promptly resumed sleeping; returning to whatever dream she'd been having. Michael glared at all of them daring them to say anything all the while settling her in. "Turns out Maria and I have more history than just this past year."

A stunned silence followed Michael's announcement. Max broke in, "Right, I'm going to call Nacedo now shall I?"

……………………………..

Maria dreamed, she dreamed of a life not her own in a time already past. She dreamt of eyes always following her, of never feeling comfortable or at home. She dreamed of noises she didn't recognize and a time filled with subterfuge and sacrifice. She saw eyes that would never see her for who she was, only for what she represented. But mostly she dreamed of eyes that saw her soul through and through, eyes filled with an aching that matched her own.

Maria dreamed of a life she wasn't supposed to remember, a life she didn't want herself to remember. She needed to live in the present not the past, because the past always has baggage. And part of that baggage is trouble.

……………………………..

Courtney sauntered into the meeting place hiding her agitation. Her mind was whirling, that Maria girl couldn't possibly have lived before she's just too…. too scatterbrained. Though it might explain Michael's preference of her whiny voice to Courtney's own.

"Nicholas, I have news. Bad news."

"What can possibly be characterized as bad news."

Oh, she hated the little snake. "When Max was healing Maria, she was connected to Michael and a death scene from Antar showed up."

"Maria is blonde. Garth I told you to get the brunette waitress." Oh, Nicholas was angry now. He'd just ruined it.

"I prefer blondes. She was hot. It all worked out."

"And I prefer people who follow orders. Once more and I kill you myself. Painfully." Garth gulped, Good. He needed to remember that just because Nicholas had a kid's body he wasn't a child.

"What's the big deal? So Rath's memories popped up. We know the girl is completely human" Ida was curious.

Vanessa Whitaker sighed, "The big deal is before we left Antar one of the Chosen died. She was rumored to have been secretly involved with Rath."

"Rath the giant block of ice. Which Chosen was it, there were only 3 females at the time." Garth was very curious now.

"The Siren. If you all remember her soul never merged with the conscious like it should have, even though she was before her akino. I remember the Gods saying that the Gods took her away because they were upset about the war."

"The Gods didn't retrieve her soul. I killed her." Nicholas scoffed.

A shocked disgusted silence hled throughout the room. He'd killed on the the sacred ones, it was unheard of. It was a crime beyond repention.

"Your saying you killed one of the purest things on our planet, you killed our religion. You murdered someone holy.." Disgust and fear showed in Garth's eyes.

"She wasn't pure anymore by the time I killed her." Ida gagged, horror beyond comprehension was reflected in the faces flanking Nicholas.

"Nicholas she was only a child! She hadn't even reached her akino, a child but oh so beautiful…" Ida began to lecture him while fingering her necklace, a whirlwind pendant (like the one found at Atherton's). Ida had always been very religious ever since she'd seen a priestess heal her brother's soul.

"Don't look so scandalized. I wasn't the one who broke the rules and depurified her." Nicholas was enjoying this. Confusion swept the room.

"Who.. who would deprive the world of her soul by coupling with her before her akino?" Garth sounded truly confused.

"Rath. The Commander always took what he wanted regardless of the consequences." Courtney felt the breath leave her. Her world was askew, could it be true? Would he do such a thing to his own people.

"Regardless we can't hurt her now especially if she is favored by the Gods. Or the Royal Four if the Gods sent one of the Chosen with them. It's blasphemous." Ida continued on vitally ignoring the fact that she wasn't a pure being. Courtney wondered the same thing, why would the Gods send her to the same place as Rath if he did what Nicholas said.

"You will all follow orders, regardless of religious influence. Understood?"

Their mouths said yes but their eyes told a different tale, religion has driven masses to revolt, the ties of Religion are often stronger than the ties of allegiance. Many leaders have learned this lesson the hard way. And history always repeats itself.

…………………

Maria opened her eyes to find herself curled up against Michael with a group of people anxiously staring at her. She was groggy and confused at the sudden scrutiny she was receiving. Liz spoke first, "Are you OK? I was sooo worried about you, chica."

It all came flooding back to her in one horrible moment. The stabbing, the healing. Michael. Her head whipped around to look at him, their eyes met, he was different, it was all different now. "I'm fine, but, um, before the guy tried to skewer me" she felt his arms tighten around her "he gave me a message for Max."

Six pairs of eyes turned to glare at Max. "What was it? What exactly happened?" He didn't really want to know because it could only be dangerous to them all.

"Well first I was super startled and thought was Michael trying to prove a point about not being alone. But the guy was waay to beefy, like Popeye, to be Michael and he grabbed me from behind and I started to freak out. Like really freak out." Her voice was starting to raise and her pulse quicken.

"Maria, calm down its ok." It was Liz, Liz was always there to ground her.

"Ok, ok. He held the knife to my throat and started to grope me" the arms tightened once more" and told me he had a message for the King. They want the granolith and they'll spare the humans. I was the warning." Silence prevailed in the room.

"Why can't you aliens be fucking dangerous in like a Disney moive way? I mean this is bad horror movie my life on the line ri-fucking-diculous." Kyle exploded. Oddly enough it broke the tension.

Tess grinned, "A Disney movie, huh Kyle? Didn't know Bambi was dangerous to Buddha." He gave a sheepish grin and with an unspoken understanding Michael and Maria moved to the bedroom to talk.

"Did you see them, those memories?" Maira began.

"Yeah."

"So we like have a past, on your planet." She was nervous, he could tell. He had to hold to his resolve, or she would be hurt again.

"It can't change anything between us…"

"Michael, things are changed."

"I can't let you get hurt. God, Maria I was terrified I was sobbing. I can,t I won't let you get hurt because of me. Especially not after today, it proves how dangerous I am. We can't be involved."

"Too late, Michael" she was poking him in the chest now "I'm involved in the alien abyss now more than ever. In case your slow we just discovered I'm involved now more than ever, with aliens, with Antar, with you. Apparently we were together last time, don't you think it must have been something if I'm here and you're here."

"No, Maria. We cannot get involved.." she cut him off.

"Michael, we share a past. An alien past. Your not allowed to have fucking commitment problems anymore."

Liz walked in, "Everything alright? It was getting kinda loud."

"Fine. We're coming back out." Liz turned and left.

"I love you, Maria. You know that. I won't let you die because of me. Not again. When it's safe we'll be together. " with that he walked out.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I own nothing, its all Melinda Metz, the WB or Fox and defintely not mine. No money is being made. blah blah.

Rating: PG-13

Summary: Michael's past as Rath starts to catch up to him and past betrayals begin reappearing.

Author's Note: Thanks for all the feedback ya'll. This is also being posted at Candy is Dandy ezforum. Ya'll are making me want to write the story so much faster, I'd thank everyone personally but my inbox deleted everything and I wanted to get this part up but know that I treasure all the feedback and welcome questions and comments. A good song for this part is "First things Last" by Cheswick, you can hear it at music. 4

Nacedo got to Roswell as fast as he could. He wasn't looking forward to the questions he would be asked, but then again who would look forward to that. It was his job to protect not to educate, but sometimes protection means knowledge. He could only hope that the Skins weren't aware of Michael's human pet's Godly blessings. Nacedo had always known that Rath's sordid past would come out sooner or later like Vilandra's had. He had hoped later for Destiny's sake. He walked to Michael's apartment and knocked.

"Come in."

Nacedo entered to find Michael holding the Destiny book staring hard at its pages. He glanced up and gave a look that could be interpreted as anything. "Max is at the Crashdown keeping an eye on Maria and Liz. Everyone else should be there too."

"So why did you want me to meet you here first?"

"I have questions I want to ask, but I don't want everyone else knowing about." Ah yes, Rath and his secrecy rears its ugly face once again.

"I bet you do. You can ask, I may or may not answer." Michael quirked an eyebrow at Nacedo's response, he expected nothing less.

"Vilandra and I were both involved with other people." Or that is what Michael meant to say, but what he actually came out with was, "Did she die because of me?"

Nacedo watched Michael wince and with his empty eyes boring into Michael responded "Not because of you, no. She died for many reasons. She died for you, for herself and for your bond and she died because of politics. Nicholas would have killed her regardless."

"Why would he have killed her?"

"Because she was siding with the Royal Four. Siding with you and she was convincing, many many others to side with your forces as well. Nicholas and Kivar couldn't accept the losses or the damage it was doing to their movement."

"Was she a priestess of some sort?"

"Something like that. I can tell you no more."

"How are we supposed to protect ourselves when we don't know anything?" Michael was seething, barely containing the anger that was threatening to explode.

"I'm supposed to protect you and I know how, your supposed to be protected and try to stay out of trouble." Annoyance flashed on Michael's face.

"One last question. Why did you like to us about Destiny? Isabel and I were both obviously involved with other people and not with each other."

"And your dalliances got you killed and started a war." Not necessarily true but Michael didn't need to know that.

"That's not why the war started. Isabel is no Helen of Troy." But Nacedo saw the doubt starting to creep into his eyes. Good. They walked the rest of the way in silence.

……………………………….

Nicholas wasn't worried but he was disconcerted, this changed the plan, which meant he would have to inform Kivar before one of Kivar's rats did. He sighed and began the preparation for the portal, it was always better to give news like this in person. He walked into the desert where no prying eyes would see. The portal opened above him sucking up everything into the rift of space, (The idea of the portal is based from Interruptus where Kivar tries to take Isabel back to Antar from her honeymoon). Nicholas hated portal travel and the disorientation that always occurred with it, but he let himself get sucked up anyway.

He appeared in the castle in an empty room set up specifically for receiving portal travelers. Nicholas walked out of the room after a moment of regaining his bearings. Two guards dropped into step two paces behind him. He quirked an eyebrow but said nothing, everyone on Antar knew was the last person to need guards after all he killed the Royal Four, including Rath. The wars must not be going well he reasoned and he was stuck on Earth on a quest for a useless religious icon. He knew he could win all the wars if he wanted to, and was allowed to but Kivar wanted to reason with them so that he could have allies.

Nicholas walked, well actually to be honest he strutted, into the throne room. Kivar was sitting in the throne wearing a crown he had made. It looked ridiculous and actually held none of Antar's power but the rebels had the true crown of Antar and Kivar was yet to find it. The crown was what held the true power, blessed by the Gods and anointed afresh at each Coronation it held the powers of protection a blessing of peace. Without it Kivar would always be seen as an illegitimate ruler by his people.

"My highness I come with a report."

"Proceed, Nicholas." Kivar was cold, far colder than Nicholas.

"One of the Royal Four's human allies is possibly a reincarnation of one of the Chosen." Kivar's face paled slightly at the news.

"The Sire, I'm assuming? By the Royal Seal, that's a strong ally to have. The public cannot know of this, ever. It would strengthen the rebellion tenfold and we could even lose our alliance with Hanar."

"Yes sir, the results would be devastating. You know how overly religious the public is and combine that with the fact the Granolith isn't here your reign would be over very soon."

"How did she get to that blasted planet?" Kivar was curious, perhaps this could work in his favor.

"You heard the rumors that the Commander had a paramour to whom he was loyal to like he was loyal to Zan. Qaelia was that woman, the Siren of Antar."

Kivar was quiet for a moment, he'd wanted her ; to be able to dominate her and use her to his advantage last time. "The Siren of Antar, charmer and uniter with Commander of the Royal Forces, rude and destroyer. No, I did not know, it must have been a well kept secret. Looking at them you wouldn't have known it; I recall when she got stuck sitting next to him at a Royal dinner and she tried to change places to no avail. She then ended up dumping her soup over his head and Rath had been furious. No, I did not know, must have been a great secret."

Nicholas only smiled he was perfectly aware Kivar wanted to know how he knew about the affair but he wasn't telling. It was always good to have some power over those in higher positions than oneself. "He tried very hard to protect her, public knowledge would have had her dead much earlier. Or used against him."

"What to do? What to do? I could use her voice, her charm to get peace agreements signed. Returning the Lost Chosen would do well by me. It would show that the Gods approve of my reign. We'll have to consider that but begin by dealing with Rath. He's the threat especially if he's attacked. Is he involved with her?"

"Yes. Shall he be dead?" Oh Nicholas hoped so, he hated him with a passion. It's why he agreed to go to Earth in the first place.

"No that would risk the Siren. Break him, break him by any means possible. Separate the Royals, turn them against each other and disrupt the relationship he has with Qaelia."

Not as good as death but this could still be fun. Rath would wish for death when he's done with him. Nicholas gave a catlike grin, "As you will it, Sire."

………………………..

They were all in the break room waiting; Max was pacing, Kyle leaning against the lockers, Alex playing solitaire on the table, Isabel idly flipping through a magazine but not really seeing the pages, Tess was staring hard at the symbols from the cave, Liz trying to work on the schedule wheel but sneaking glances at Max and Mara was curled up writing something.

It was quiet for a moment when Michael and Nacedo came in through the back door. Nacedo smiled at Tess, "No new members of the 'I know an alien club'? Membership was really starting to blossom…."

A few wry grins graced faces but nobody chuckled. Nacedo took the opportunity to study Maria. She didn't seem particularly holy, definitely not the first human he would have chosen to inhabit the soul of a religious icon but appearances can be misleading, he himself knew that better than anyone. He thought for a second, if she could handle Michael without backing down or being afraid, not to mention Rath, for multiple lifetimes he respected her and she must have something holy going on for her. Like infinite patience. She looked at him and spoke, "Who was I and what is happening to me?"

"You weren't part of the reincarnation plan for the Royal Four."

She looked annoyed, it hadn't fooled her. "That didn't answer my question. Now answer it, I'm not under your protection so I deserve to know."

He looked over at Michael and understood that she may not be under his protection but she was definitely under Michael's. "No it didn't answer your question."

Max glanced at Michael who looked ready to explode. "Answer her." It was a command and Nacedo, whether he liked it or not, was bound to obey.

"I believe you were one of the Chosen, Qaelia, The Siren to be exact."

Maria interrupted, "What's a Chosen-thingy?"

"A holy being sent from the Gods, no birth, with a message and skills."

Hmmmm, it was Liz this time who was dying of curiosity. "What was her message?"

Michael was trying to remember, it was important in the last life and he knew that message carried over to this one. It would carry big changes indeed.

……………………………………

They were in a meeting with the council of advisors, complete with priests from the First Order of the Granolith, diplomats, Rath's military seconds and prophets. The meeting was under a strained note, news of a growing rebellion leader out east was being discussed when she threw open the doors and walked in. Rath remembered it well, he was twenty-one and freshly appointed as General of the Armed Forces of Antar he'd jumped to his feet ready to defend his king. He was wary and felt alive, energy was crackling within him, he felt like he was on a high just looking at her looking at them. She'd been dressed in gowns of the richest purple, trailing behind her. In her hands had been several ochai flowers, it was obvious she'd stopped whatever she'd been doing and come over in a rush. The tattoo that covered her right arm in knotwork seemed to be moving as though it was alive. She'd looked directly at him when she started to speak, "I come bearing a message from the Gods."

Her voice was magic, and it froze everyone in the room. At sixteen she'd been able to freeze a room of the greatest men on Antar with 8 words. Rath felt his heart speed up, her words would change his future. He knew it in his bones just as he knew how to fight. He looked at her closely, she seemed infinitely sad as though she knew what pain her words would bring. He saw the loneliness in her life of isolation, he shared it. Her reflective eyes met his, "The prophecies have been misread. These mistakes will bring about war."

The room reverberated with silence, the prophets were pale with shock. Rath looked at her, the only one with courage enough to address her, "Which prophecies, my lady."

She began to sing, "_Princess, creature of beauty, innocent and lovely to unite with the warrior, dark and bleeding. Their union will bring peace unto the lands. The warrior, isolated and determined to unite with the blessed child, their union will bring peace unto men and Gods. The King to follow his heart and to find love, but not truth. To bring the golden age let these unions be."_

Rath felt his breath go out, the prophecy that had brought about his engagement. His hated engagement, oh he would marry Vilandra but it would be duty not love. Always duty for him. What could this creature mean that the prophecies were misinterpreted. They were obvious. Oh so obvious. "Which part is misinterpreted?" They asked her.

She looked slightly scared, she was just a child afterall. "That's all I know my lords. That destiny will be the downfall of the reign of King Zan."

Their eyes met her lips moved but no sound came out, "Ashryhan eh loen."

The old language, 'you are not alone'. That phrase set their affair in motion.

………………………..

Nacedo was quiet, he wasn't going to answer Liz's question. Michael looked at Maria, their eyes met. ""Her message was that Destiny would be our downfall."


	5. Chapter 5

Collision Part 5

Disclaimer: I own nothing, its all Melinda Metz, the WB or Fox and defintely not mine. No money is being made. blah blah.

Rating: PG-13

Summary: Michael's past as Rath starts to catch up to him and past betrayals begin reappearing.

Author's note: Thanks to Magali, keirah, spaceboi's pixie for the reviews! I cherished them and it urged me to write a longer part!

"Destiny will be our downfall" It seemed to echo throughout the room bouncing off all the walls and thickening the air. For the first time in a very long time Liz allowed her eyes to meet Max's with a sort of hope. Tess was reeling, she'd been lied to all of her life; led to believe that she belonged with Max, "Mr. I'm so straightlaced I used a ruler to make sure the lacing on my shoes was even", or that's how she saw him anyway. She felt as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She glanced at Nacedo, he was furious, she could tell. He knew that he'd lost control over her and her life not to mention the fragile bit of control he had over the others. It was turning out to be an interesting day.

Maria was thinking, which most people tended to see as a bad sign, but she was thinking that if she'' been so holy why hadn't they listened to her? "Why didn't they listen, I mean if I was so holy why didn't they listen to me and prevent the war?"

It was a valid question and everyone saw her point, it honestly made no sense. As if synchronized all their eyes turned to Nacedo who was shifting his weight. His eyes glanced towards Max. "Politics are never that simple."

Max suddenly felt uncomfortable under the heat of Nacedo's gaze. He had a strong feeling his personal beliefs had something to do with it. After all, he'd learned in class that we are creatures of our environment and experiences. Yes, Max was aware that certain aspects of his personality were related to his last life, like how he didn't believe in God and his responsibility for everyone and their tendencies. It was a thought that haunted many a sleepless night but ever since connecting with a dying Maria more memories had been sneaking out into his mind. "Destiny will be our downfall" it echoed in his mind releasing a memory, a mistake, from his past.

…………

"What do we do, Sire?" It was one of the priests talking, they held themselves and their religion in a very high regard. Zan didn't hold them too much of any regard, except for duty of course. He had no faith in Gods, omnipotent beings, who would let his father die and him be crowned at such a young age and important time for their world. No, Zan was not a fan of religion at all, too unordered.

"About what?" He did it on purpose, to disquiet them and make sure the decision was made on his terms. 'To be King, you must be cunning, remember religion controls the masses and you control religion. Use it as your tool' oh Zan had learned the lesson from his father, and his father's councilors, well. Too well.

"About what the blessed Siren has delivered as her message. We must act on it immediately for the good of Antar." Zan looked at the earnest devotion in his eyes and then looked to his head councilor Jetar. Jetar shook his head slightly so Zan thought about the prophecy and the changes it would wreak upon his life. He loved his queen, Tavessa, very much and to find love was rare enough but to find a true match, well it was nigh impossible. He could search for that in his dreams and enjoy the love he had found. He was content with love. The prophecies seemed clear enough to him, Rath with Vilandra they would unite his family and the people would love to see it. After all Rath's grandmother was one of Skilons, the others. It would quell their growing rebellion to see him united with the princess.

"We do nothing. Rath and Vilandra's engagement holds, to break it now would insult the Skilons and add fuel to the fire of the rebellion out east."

Jetar smiled at him and nodded, Zan felt relieved he had made the right decision. "A wise decision, Sire. To keep peace we must all make personal sacrifices, including the Gods."

Zan looked at Rath to gage his reaction, none except for a glimmer of anger in the eyes but Rath was always angry these days, Rath wasn't surprised by his decision he could tell. For Rath, Zan knew Vilandra was merely another form of duty.

"Commander, make sure the Siren keeps the secret of her message. She could endanger us all if she leaked it." A nod was his only response, Zan supposed Rath was in one of his moods.

…………………

Max was back in the present with water dripping down his face from a glass of water Liz had thrown at him. He smiled at her gratefully, "Thanks, I needed that."

"Did you remember something?" Michael was curious, Max wasn't sure if this was a good sign or bad. Michael's curiosity usually involved Max bailing him out.

Max didn't want to share his past personal shortcomings just yet. He still wasn't sure how he felt about the memory, disgust? Shame? Envy at Zan's self assurance in his decisions? "Yeah, but it didn't make any sense."

He was lying and everyone in the room knew it. Most in the room knew not to push, but Michael was worried. Secret keeping was beginning and that was never good. Nacedo looked at the shell-shocked teens and wanted to make a getaway before the inevitable destiny grilling session began. "I've got to go do another check in with the disassembling Special Unit."

He was through the door before they had time to protest. Tess watched him go in silence. She was deeply shaken, her life up to this point had been a lie. She was raised with the expectation of a fairy tale of Max being her everything, her savior from Nacedo's coldness, her protector and her lover. What do you do when you meant to be isn't meant to be after all? Tess all but ran from the room, "I need to go sort some things out."

She walked to the park and selected a bench in the shade. She was confused and hurt that Nacedo, her family, had used her as a pawn her whole life. He'd made deals with Kivar that used her as bait. Tess wanted a life, a life of her own choice not cold-blooded Nacedo's, not boring control-freak Max Evan's, but hers. Yes, she'd loved Max once, she had the blurry memories to prove it but that was a different time and a different place and according to this new information it had gotten her killed. No more using Max Evans as her security blanket. Tess was ready to break her cycle of existence and really start living. She would start with making amends, beginning with Liz and Max, she'd make sure they were together if it killed her.

…………………..

The Skins were all present at their debriefing meeting. Nicholas looked them over one by one, assessing them and assigning orders. "Kivar wants us to turn the Royal Four against each other, separate them from the humans as well. Rath is of paramount importance, our main concern. Courtney keep him and his blonde pet human apart. Don't kill him, or her, merely toy with him. Anyone come up with any new reconnaissance information?"

Garth grinned, "Well if Rath didn't have any alien DNA he would certainly accused of being a stalker. He regularly checks on the Evans' house and can be sure to be outside his blonde waitress's window every night. Every night he watches her and if she walks home from anywhere, like the Crashdown, he follows her. It's pretty creepy, its as though he is obsessed with her."

Courtney was outraged, he shouldn't be that involved or concerned about her. Rath wouldn't have let himself be panting after a female. Rath should be focused on getting back to Antar and winning the war, she'd have to distract him. Break his addiction of that snippety Maria girl. She would make sure he got his priorities straight and wasn't lusting after a mere human. Well, a human with a past involvement with him. Courtney reasoned if his past involvement with Isabel/Vilandra turned him off Maria's should do the same. Courtney was so involved in trying to convince herself that Michael was deluded she nearly missed the elaboration on her orders.

"Courtney, focus on Rath. Befriend him, do whatever it takes but keep him and Maria apart. Lie, use your powers, use your looks, just do it."

She smiled, it was the perfect assignment for her, especially with wanting Rath to lead. Of course the other skins didn't now about her "Rath following and wishing Kivar was dead ways", but she liked it that way.

Nicholas's little mind was busy plotting and scheming away. "Whitaker, pump your human intern, Liz, for information. Garth follow the shapeshifter, he's sneaky. I'll personally work on Vilandra, informing her of her betrayal in the past. It will do wonders to screw up her psyche." He grinned nastily before continuing. 'Ida, follow the Queen, she's the wildcard."

"What about Zan?" Vanessa Whitaker queried.

"He's of no consequence, he's a puppet, just like last time. We merely manipulate the strings of his emotions and he'll do whatever we want him to. He's so very predictable."

…………….

"OK my Checkoslovakian and human friends alike it is time to vacate the break room so I can change for my shift." Maria announced whilst making shooing motions. Everyone got up and dispersed, thankful for the break.

"Work?" Michael was being particularly dense today, though his furrowed brow was quite attractive.

"Yeah" chuckle "feeding alien themed grease to the truth seeking masses for tips. I do it a lot, Spaceboy you work in the kitchen…" He still looked disconcerted, she was starting to get annoyed and her good humor was quickly becoming scarce.

"You're not working today." His voice was adamant.

"Yes I am, see right here on the schedule." What was his problem, today? Maria watched as his eyes fixed on a spot in the middle of the floor, her near death spot. She pushed that thought away.

"No, your not. Maria, it isn't safe you almost died yesterday. I won't let you. We'll tell Mr. .Parker your sick." His eyes hadn't left the spot, Maria smiled softly.

"Michael, that's sweet but I need the money and I'm fine. I want to work." What went unsaid was, 'I need to work, I need to do something to keep myself sane because if I don't I'll surely lose it.' He heard what she didn't say, they always communicated best without words. She reached for her locker.

"No" his hand slammed her locker shut "You're not working, that's final. Go get some rest with the others. Go see Liz." She heard what he didn't say, 'I'm worried and I'm scared, I can't bear you being where you almost died where I failed to protect you.' Neither were budging despite understanding.

"Michael" her voice was taking on a warning tone when the back door opened and Courtney walked in to see Michael, hand still holding Maria's locker shut, leaning over Maria with his "I'm not budging on this no matter how much you wheedle" expression intact. Maria was pretty much underneath Michael glaring up at him with her arms crossed defiantly over her chest. Courtney read the tension in the air, physical, emotional and sexual. She grinned, a perfect time to start her plan.

"Am I interrupting something, Mikey G?"

Maria, still angry turned on her like a caged animal. "Courtney you're not working today. Why are you here?"

Whoa, little Miss Chosen was getting snippety, harsh. "I forgot my cell phone. Your alittle uptight ya know, and taking it out on Mikey G here isn't very nice." As she talked she moved up to Michael and patted him on his shoulder.

Before Maria could respond, well in all actuality explode, Michael pinched her and jumped in. "You'll have to cut Maria some slack, Courtney. She's been feeling ill and disconcerted since yesterday."

Yeah, I bet you have Maria. Courtney's thoughts were silent but her countenance betrayed her inside knowledge. In a fake concerned voice, with a spiteful undertone she questioned. "Oh why aren't you feeling well?"

Maria's eyes met hers and whatever Maria saw in her gaze caused Maria's eyes to narrow, lips purse, shoulders tense and goosebumps to break out on her skin. Michael looked from Maria's raised hackles, to where she almost died and back to Courtney. He knew something was up. Michael also knew that Maria was about to sarcastically decombust and say something along the lines of 'oh nothing major just an attempt on my life. It puts one slightly out of sorts.' And she would try and pass it off as a joke. Her mouth opened and Michael cut her off with a hard pinch to her back, "Courtney since you're here would you cover Maria's shift so I don't kill her and she gets her rest? We haven't really worked together yet.."

Michael knew exactly what he was doing, Courtney wanted to jump his bones and she'd take the bait to spend some time with him. It would keep Maria safe and away from him giving them both time to sort stuff out with out a big alien themed fight in an alien themed diner. It would push Maria away and give him a chance to investigate Courtney. Knowing his reasons didn't mean it hurt any less when Maria's hurt, accusatory eyes landed on him. Having reasons didn't lessen his pan at the betrayal in her eyes any. But he was Michael Guerin and he was used to being a disappointment to everyone so he would bear the pain in silence. He would lock it away with the rest of his pain and throw away the key. He was so absorbed in thinking of how he was hurting Maria by protecting her that he barely heard, as if from a distance, Courtney agreeing to cover Maria's shift in some glib fashion. He came crashing back, always crashing for him, never a smooth descent to reality, when Maria shoved past him up to Liz's. He looked at Courtney's smiling, smug face and resigned himself to an afternoon of getting hit on by the wrong waitress.

…………………

Maria stomped upstairs to Liz's room where Liz and Alex were sitting on the bed laughing about something or other. She'd been doing a pretty good job so far of avoiding her sudden past, a great job of avoiding reality by pretending it was a dream and a fantastic job of avoiding remembering her near death experience. Then along comes Michael, whose namesake means Bringer of Glory, more like Bringer of Reality, and he throws it in her face, flirts with Courtney and brings reality crashing down. Always a crash with her and Michael, always explosions, nothing was ever sweet and gentle with their relationship. They weren't like Liz and Max, separate but flowing in tandem like earth and water. No she and Michael were like the yin and the yang, opposites but they fit so well together. She reconsidered, they weren't the yin and the yang because they weren't complete opposites. They were actually quite similiar; using defense mechanisms to keep others out and reality away, both ruled by their passions, act first and think later. No, they were like fire and ice, she burning brightly, making a first impression and always ready to burn whoever got to close. He was like ice, using his coldness to be unapproachable, pushing people away with a freaky attitude and a threat of frostbite. Cold could harm humans just as much as fire. Like fire and ice their relationship was always volitale; no matter when they meet one will always get hurt and lose part of their shell. Michael's melting away and her flame being tamed. Yes, they could work in tandem, her melting his ice into water; water that threatens her fire, her control. Yes, they were at each others mercy. This Maria realized in a flash as quick as lightening when he turned to Courtney wounding her. It brought her teflon shield crashing down so now she stood looking at her two best friends in the eyes. She burst into tears.

In a flash Maria was ensconced in a tight 3 way hug of Liz and Alex crushing her. Liz was making soothing noises urging her to let it all out and Alex comfortingly rubbing her back. Her sobs shook all three of them, Maria cried not only her sudden life upheaval but for all their losses of innocence, human and alien alike, for one fateful day two September s in a row that shook their fragile worlds.

She hiccuped and barely got out, "Lizzie I'm so confused and scared. It's all so different" sniffle "Suddenly I've got this whole past life thing with Michael. I mean me and Michael, you and Max I could understand it if it was you since Max has loved you since elementary school but me? I'm not speical. I can't handle this," she was beginning to hyperventilate now "I almost died. Oh my god, I almost died, why! WHY! Because of aliens! How weird is that…you almost died saved by an alien. Not saved by a bell like it should be." Hysterical giggle "I get stabbed, (Stabbed Alex! Stabbed!) and then suddenly I'm like, what alien-reincarnated human girl?" She was really hyperventilating now, "What if I'm not human? I'm reincarnated I mean my mom has all these metaphyical books on reincarnation but none (I mean none!)" wild hand gestures "mention ALIENS! OR alien reincarnated humans…"

Alex shook her, his voice was gentle. The kind of voice he'd use to calm a wild animal. "It's alittle late to be flipping out about knowing aliens exist, Maria."

She ignored him, going on as if she didn't hear him. Perhaps she didn't over her hysteria. "Then, then I was some sort of Goly indivual, not Maria DeLuca, am I still Maria DeLuca or am I this Qaelia dead person? What if I'm a dead person?" Liz shoved the bottle of cypress oil under Maria's nose, Maria inhaled. "and now I've got these weird flashes floating around my brain and its like a puzzle with all these missing pieces. And a puzzle with Michael who's probably sucking Courtney's face right now." Sob "I almost died, I was stabbed (Stabbed! Alex, Stabbed!)"

Alex clamped his hand over her mouth, "Ok your babbling has reached full cirlce and is now on to repetitions. So we're gonna calm down and have a nice chat."

He kept his hand over her mouth and rubbed her back until the wild animal look and hysteria left her eyes. She began to look more like herself. "Can I take my hand off your mouth yet? Are you in control, girl?"

She nodded, he removed his hand. She gave a sheepish grin, "I really flipped out didn't I?"

"Nothing we didn't expect from you Maria. You lasted longer than I expected you to." Liz's voice was gentle and she gave Maria a soft hug.

Liz picked up the ice cream that she had abandoned when Maria had her breakdown and handed Maria a spoon. Maria gave her a grateful smile. "I love you guys."

"Ok, girlfriend so what do you wanna talk about."

"So these flashes I'm getting, I think Michael kidnapped me back then too. I think we had an affair…" her voice trailed off and a slightly melancholy looked graced her face.

Alex attempted humor, "Maybe kidnapping is the only way he can pick up girls?"

It worked, both girls grinned and in unison pelted him with pillows. They would be alright, they'd get each other through this.


	6. Chapter 6

isclaimer: I own nothing, its all Melinda Metz, the WB or Fox and defintely not mine. No money is being made. blah blah.

Rating: PG-13

Summary: Michael's past as Rath starts to catch up to him and past betrayals begin reappearing.

authors note: sorry it took so long! its been a rough week. The reviews helped cheer me through it.

Candylovin Fehrian and Magali. Ya'll rock. 

Collision Part 6

September 28th, I'm Liz Parker and I'm sorry I haven't written in so long but I've been unable to vent. To put my feelings down on paper or even acknowledge them. Things are much different since my last entry in May, Max and I aren't together and I spent the summer in Florida with Aunt Jess avoiding aliens. Now I feel as though I can write again, fully, for a few reasons. One being Destiny was a trap; it got the aliens killed in their last life. So, I'm beginning to let Destiny go, I'm healing, moving on. The other is I've got nobody to really confide in right now, Maria's under too much stress, she had a complete breakdown today, and Max and I are still distant. I'm so worried about Maria; I'm worried that her involvement will get her killed. She is so full of life and spirit and how she's so confused about who she is with this sudden past alien life with Michael. Maria is so fragile, I know the 'Teflon babe' doesn't seem it because she's always been my strength but I'm afraid this and the way Michael acts will break her. I'm so afraid that Michael will break her and I'll lose her. I'm concerned it will rip her Marianess from her, her innocence an optimistic bubbly outlook. I couldn't handle losing Maria, she keeps me happy, from being so pedantic and science dork mooning over Max. I will do everything in my power to keep her even if it means forcing Michael, who still scares me, to figure it out or killing.

What am I talking about? Killing? That's not me, or it wasn't, but in these last few days we've all been through so much. I'm not sure I know who I am anymore, who anyone in the group is.

Exhibit A: Tess

Tess came over after Maria and Alex left and told me that she wanted to make sure that Max and I are together and that she feels as betrayed by Nacedo as the rest of us. Tess wanting Max and me together instead of pulling us apart. It's a complete reversal. I feel bad for her about Nacedo but don't quite like her yet; I still don't trust her.

Exhibit B: Max

Max lied to us today. Max lied to me, today. Max never lies to me, I didn't think he could. He's always shared everything no matter how much it hurt him, like to show me who he was and what they did to him in the White Room. Max is lying now and it scares me beyond everything because if Max feels he needs to hide it then how bad is it?

Exhibit C: Isabel

Isabel seems the least affected by the past few days but I know that she's freaking. Utterly and totally freaking out. Isabel doesn't freak out; she doesn't cling to Michael like the world is ending. She's calm, distant and snooty but when we were cleaning Maria up after the stabbing she couldn't get enough control to use her powers to clean the blood off of Maria at first. She just kept talking about how scared she was for Michael. Isabel doesn't show her feelings.

Exhibit D: Alex

Alex has changed so much since being dragged into the alien abyss. He was so innocent before and now he's jaded, jaded by how Isabel always stomps on his heart and how Michael treats Maria. Sometimes I think Alex lost the most by joining our secret circle because he didn't really gain as much as Maria, Kyle and I did. Watching him comfort Maria I saw a hardness in his eyes I've never seen there before, Alex isn't a fighter. He shouldn't have to be.

Exhibit E: Kyle

Kyle found Buddha. What else is there to say to denote a change in a subject? He utterly changed religions and lately, these past few days he's become closer to us. Kyle shouldn't have ever been involved and now he's willing to risk his life for us. It scares me how dedicated we've all become in such a short time.

Exhibit F: Michael

Michael still scares me; he always has and probably always will. I hate the way he treats Maria especially now. I can understand avoiding her over summer because she was stalking him. I can't condone or understand avoiding her, and shoving her away after he put her in danger. Because she loves him she will always be in danger. If having a past life with Maria is too much to handle he needs to keep away and not keep messing with her, though he did prove that he really cares for her the way he acted when she got stabbed. Michael's getting flashes and I'm afraid to see where his flashes lead us this time.

Exhibit G: Maria

Maria had a breakdown and is now having flashes of a past life. Suffice to say she's changed, she's confused and angry and excited. She's not as Maria anymore, this afternoon there were moments when I looked into her eyes and saw a stranger. I saw sadness and eyes that were searching, I think I saw someone long dead who shares Maria's soul. It gives me the shivers.

In these past days I've learned that my life isn't the constant journey I once thought it to be. No, my life is a wheel of change that spins without my consent; bringing in new people and forming new bonds. By knowing Max, Michael and Isabel life and our hearts have taken us places we were never meant to go.

Liz Parker

Liz put her pen down and slowly closed her journal.

…………….

Fifteen minutes to go, fifteen minutes and 35 seconds until Michael Guerin's shift was over. Let God have mercy on his weary soul. He was exhausted, hot and sweaty, aggravated beyond all sense to the point where he was contemplating quitting, guilt ridden and horny. Yes, he was disgusted with his body but it had been a long, lonely summer and having Maria so near in the break room hadn't helped any. Inhaling her spicy ginger and cinnamon-laced perfume combined with her floral shampoo, sweet and spicy, had nearly driven him over the edge as they argued. Arguing was a ritual for them and it never ceased to excite him. But Maria was three hours and 46 minutes long gone, which was good for his ideas of not endangering her but had for his present condition. He was annoyed when sparked from his thoughts, wishes of getting off early and not thinking of Maria, by Courtney. "Mikey G is my Will Smith ready yet?"

Michael took a second to glare at her, usually the glare silenced anyone except Maria. It seemed to have no effect on her. "Courtney you gave me that order 2 minutes ago."

She was leaning on the order window, almost all the way through, "Aww, I'm sorry. I'm just ready to get off. You look so tired and tense. I'll help you relax."

She flipped her hair suggestively and batted her eyes at him. 13 minutes and three seconds to go, he could make it, he really could make it with out throttling her. 'What do you want from me, Courtney? I know this is something more than it seems' his thoughts were silent as was his response to her offer. He broke the staring contest. "Order up."

Michael had forty-seven seconds alone before she was back again with 12 minutes and 6 seconds till he got off work. He suppressed the urge to groan. "Come over to my place after work, Michael."

"I'm tired, give me one good reason too."

It was issued as a challenge, it would make her or break her in his eyes. This could be her trump move or get her killed. It was her move. She smiled slowly at him, "Because it will get your mind off Maria."

Michael looked at her steadily for a moment considering. He saw fear flash in her eyes. In that moment Courtney saw Rath as he once was in all his glory, the same look she'd seen him give when deciding whether to kill someone or not. It was a calculating and cold look. It made her regret her words, her honesty. She hadn't wanted to use Maria's name to get him to her house but it seemed like the best option. Rath had always appreciated truth. She was terrified but squashed it, she wanted to be on his side. One of her reasons was she definitely didn't want to be against him.

His head tilted to the side, sizing her up one last time. "OK, let's go."

She breathed a sigh of relief. Alive and with Michael. What better way was there to live?

Michael was out of the Crashdown with 10 minutes and 43 seconds left on his shift. Early and not obsessing about Maria. Objective reached.

……………………………….

Kyle was sitting in a flying saucer shaped booth in the corner of the Crashdown. He was eating a Sigourney Weaver burger with a Martian's Blood shake on the side. There was no better place to contemplate the current alien invasion than in an alien themed diner with an actual alien cooking your food. Kyle appreciated the irony of it. Actually he appreciated a lot of things lately. Like his life for example.

Buddha was helping, he was still fairly freaked out by the whole aliens are among us thing but he was dealing. He had to. He'd been initiated into a secret society he hadn't wanted. Though it did give his life more meaning that football, rifle shooting and scoring with girls in the back of trucks. His thoughts drifted to Maria.. if his life had more meaning from a near death experience what did hers have? He didn't have answers to that and doubted Buddha did either. 'If I needed Buddha to cope what will flighty, over-active imagination DeLuca need?' Somehow he doubted Buddha could calm her down. Picking at his fries his eyes glanced over to Michael. 'Bingo was his name-o. Buddha is go with the flow but Michael is do what I say and do it now. A firm hand, yes Maria DeLuca will be needing him.' Kyle had never been big on personal conversations, always thinking that if you had to have a conversation with yourself you were a sad soul indeed. Since meeting aliens, his views on the subject had changed drastically. So talking to himself, mentally of course, didn't bother him the way it once would have.

Kyle had never really liked or disliked Michael. He'd always thought Michael was a cool guy, good at sports, didn't say much. Cool but kinda freaky. Coach had tried to get Guerin to join the football team freshman year. Michael had stared at him and said, "I don't do teams." It had scared Coach, which impressed Kyle. Cold and intimidating, Michael Guerin in two words. Because of these two words Kyle, and everyone else, had pretty much left Michael alone since elementary. Kyle personally after learning that Michael didn't trash talk because he didn't have to. 5th grade had been a rough year. Once or twice since then Kyle had been jealous of Michael's independent devil may care, rebel attitude and the way he didn't care about fitting in. Kyle had lived his life to fit in. But only had he been jealous once or twice because Kyle knew he had it better, never as much until this summer.

Since joining the alien conspiracy Kyle and Michael had done some minor male bonding. Watched a few hockey games and played poker a few times but the weren't exactly friends. Michael didn't let people in, Kyle didn't want to be let in.

Kyle was still staring at Michael and the new blonde girl, Courtney or whatever her name was, when Michael threw down his apron and walked out with her. Kyle glanced at the clock. Michael was off early. Something was up. He got up threw some change on the booth and followed them.

………………………………

Maria was emotionally drained from her outburst at Liz's. She resolved to take a nap when she got home. With her intentions firmly in mind she pulled the Jetta into the driveway. Unlocking the door and entering she yawned as she shut the door behind her. When her yawn ended Maria stretched, pulling her arms above her head causing her shirt to ride up and her back to pop just as her mom entered the room.

"Maria, honey. What's that on your stomach? Did you get a tattoo…? Oh my baby got a tattoo" All the while her mother was starting to wring her hands and was about to burst into full babble mode. Maria smiled at her mother.

"Relax mom, its temporary. Liz and I got bored last night so we put temp-o-rar-y tattoos on." It bothered Maria that it was getting so easy to lie to her mother. She hadn't been at Liz's the night before but they'd all been at Michael's. Her mother looked at her for a moment, eyes narrowing then accepted Maria's explanation. She may or may not have believed it, but she accepted it.

"Ah to be a teenager. Just make sure your teenage rebellion doesn't extend beyond temporary tattoos, ok?" Seeing Maria nod she continued on, "Now ya'll must have had a long night you look awfully pale. So go take a nap, we can't have you getting sick with school starting tomorrow."

"Ok, Mom." For once they agreed on something. With one last smile Maria went to her room kicked off her shoes and plopped down onto the bed. She fell asleep to the strains of Tiger Lily, Matchbook Romance

"We drive tonight and you are by my side

we're talking about our lives like we've known each other forever

the time flies by with the sound of your voice its close to paradise w

with the end surely near and if

I could only stop the car and hold onto you and never let go"

………………..

She was sitting in a tree gaily kicking her legs back and forth watching the moons rise. They were beautiful rising in a cluster of gold, copper and silvery orbs. It was her favorite part of the day, she always felt most at ease with the world when the three sisters were coming to greet it. Except for today, she couldn't feel completely at ease with him.

"Come down out of the tree we've got to go the cave before the 3 sisters are higher in the sky."

"No. I'm not walking across an open field at night to go stay in an animal infested cave." She was being a baby and she knew it but she'd had enough for one day. Plus it was fun annoying the General. He walked to the bottom of the tree mumbling something about holy people being afraid of bugs but she resolutely wasn't listening. He stopped at the bottom and stared up at her, his stare was so intense that it made her slightly uncomfortable. Not that she let it show.

"Now."

His voice booked no argument so she laughed at him and shook her long hair, letting it flow down her back in ripples. Turning her attention back to the rising moons. Rath stood at the bottom of the tree weighing his options, then choosing the one with the most personal satisfaction he shook the tree. She was caught unawares when her world started to shake and with no more than a startled "eep" she fell. He caught her slight weight easily and slung her over his shoulder caveman style and began walking across the field. Her cape fell down covering her eyes so she spent several minutes futiley batting at her hood while he trudged along. She was outraged and took it out on her poor cape. "Put me down this instant, solider boy or by the Granolith, I'll fry you!… I'll get.. I'll get you in trouble for mistreating me!"

She felt him laugh, a vibration going through his chest and her body as he carried her. It was a pleasant feeling, especially since she got the feeling he didn't laugh much. "I'll simply say I was protecting you. This is you fault, you know, if you'd done as I said you'd be on your own feet."

"My fault? MY FAULT? I'm not the one who blew up the xehg by going too fast now was I… no this is definitely your fault. And what's with this 'if you'd done as I said' who are you Mr. Do as I say and it will all be well. Ego complex much?"

She was abruptly cut off by him slamming her down onto her feet. Hard. Harder than he meant to, but he was angry and easily forgot his own strength.

"If you hadn't been nagging me and complaining so much it wouldn't have happened. Don't push me priestess. I'm not in a forgiving mood."

She felt her ire rising and mimicked him. He was so annoying and thought himself so high and mighty. Well, she was one of the Chosen (no matter that she often wished she wasn't) and he wouldn't, couldn't talk to her like that. "No, Don't you push me soldier boy. I'm not in a forgiving mood."

He growled at her.

"I've been a good sport about this. You've kidnapped me, taken me from everything I've ever known and I just want to go back to the temple and eat something. Not sit in some smelly cold d'rahi with some creepy guy with a complex."

Something in his manner softened as he broke off some tack from his belt and handed it to her to eat. He made himself busy starting a fire. Abruptly he cut himself off and his manner reverted to what it had been. "My d'rahi not good enough for you? Miss all the blind adoration and people staring at you, Priestess."

It wasn't a question. His tone was mocking and it hurt. It hurt so much she felt her eyes darken. She was alone, utterly and completely alone. She couldn't hide her emotions, it was her strength and her weakness. "No I do not miss it because I'm not really seen when they stare at me." Her eyes met his. She had his full attention, he could hear the suffering pouring out of her through her voice. "They see what they want to, they see a shield. Who I am is lost to the shadows and is not missed."

He let out a low laugh and whistle and turned away, she felt her defenses rising. Why did she have to open up to him? Cursed Gods with their Cursed Gifts. "What? What you think it's funny?"

His dark eyes flashed at her in the firelight. "No I don't find it amusing. I've lived my whole life in the public eye. I know what it's like to stand in front of a crowd and not be seen. Zan and Lonnie, they don't notice it. Zan barely thinks on his own sometimes, he says what he council wants him to say. And Lonnie. Lonnie wants too much to be admired and loved, it makes her feel safe, that she's hidden whoever is far from everyone's prying eyes."

She started at the disgust in his tone when speaking of his betrothed. He understood her! She could ask the greatest General Antar had known in lifetimes why he was disgusted with his betrothed without fear. "Lonnie is your betrothed is she not? Shouldn't you love her and your souls be beginning their joining?"

A humorless laugh escaped his lips. He was not a happy man, nor a public one. "Our Granix? No we are betrothed but not meant, we will undergo no Granix." Upon seeing the shock that must have been evident on her face he continued. "The prophecies say our union will bring peace not personal happiness. DO not worry yourself, priestess, Granix are rare especially amongst Royals." His eyes darkened "Though the binding of souls would certainly cut down on treachery. I don't think I'd want the Granix in my marriage, too intimate and no secrets. It can be used as a weapon against you. First rule of the blade, leave no weapons to be used against you." Abruptly he left battle talk. "May you find your other half though."

Her voice, her namesake, echoed his feelings. Full of sorrow and longing of empty, lonely lifetimes filled with isolation by duty. "Tis forbidden for A Chosen to undergo the Passage of Granix. Our souls are supposed to be gifts to the whole of Antar not merely another individual, according to the priests. So I will remain alone until my akino then separate still unto my death where I will join fully with Antar and be part of the crown's power. A life of duty, nothing more, nothing less, A death of duty, nothing more, nothing less."

Duty, he understood duty well. She has been his constant companion these twenty years past. Duty it was his life as it was hers, he served his King whom he dearly loved and her her Gods whom she loved dearly. They would live for duty and die for duty. It was their Destiny. All this was communicated in silence as they sat in a dark cave in the western foothills of Antar's Daxah region. Abruptly she got up and said "I'm rather tired. I shall rest."

Before she could lie down someone new walked into the cave, someone that didn't belong in this dream or this lifetime. An unwanted participant that made Maria realize that she was Maria and that Qaelia's life was but a dream long past. "Who are you? Get out!"

She didn't note the hysteria in her voice, or the desperate fear that he would defile her precious memory.

"Tsk, Tsk. Tis no way to treat a guest. I don't think Rath would approve, do you? But would he even notice, Maria? For someone you died for he's been paying you very little attention since you almost died again."

"You don't know what you're talking about! Michael pushes me away because he loves me!"

The visitor laughed long and deep. "Oh he pushes you away because he loves you. Then why does he pull them closer" an image of Isabel and Courtney flashed in front of her. "Pray, tell me that."

Her voice, and her resolve, was weakening. "You're just trying to make me doubt him."

"You can't deny the truth, Siren. He wanted to work the shift with her" A scene opened up before her eyes ' Courtney since you're here will you cover Maria's shift so I don't kill her' "He hugged Isabel and asked if she was all right. Not you. He didn't come near you. You cannot hide from his actions, Maria. Not this time, not last time."

She burst into sobs, letting hindsight and despair color the rest of her sleeping hours. She didn't notice the satisfied figure disappear back into the shadows.

…………………….


	7. Chapter 7

Collision Part 7 "Your Stories, My Alibis" 

_They press their lips against you_

_And you love the lies they say_

_And I tried so hard to reach you_

_But you're falling anyway_

_And you know I see right through you_

_Cuz the world gets in your way_

_What's the point in all this screaming?_

_You're not listening anyway_

_Acoustic #3 Goo Goo Dolls_

Michael got off his bike at a small house where Courtney directed him. She flipped her hair out of the helmet and said, I love a guy who rides a motorcycle. It shows he's not afraid of taking risks. That ride was soo exhilarating!"

Michael merely grunted in reply as he settled his bike in her yard, making sure it was safe and steady. She unlocked the door and they went inside. It was fairly utilitarian and basic with no real personal items lying about. It was all stuff you could leave without regret or small items you could quickly pack up and be on your way. _The complete opposite of Maria's cluttered personal home._ The thought popped into his head unbidden and unwelcome. He was here to avoid Maria and all Maria related thoughts after all.

"Want anything to drink?" Her voice was tinged with barely hidden excitement. She was ecstatic at having lured him into her lair. Yes, Courtney was floating on Cloud Nine, very close to an overdose of the emotion commonly known as ecstasy.

"No." His voice was short; he was starting to doubt his spur of the moment decision to come with her. Courtney either didn't notice his tone of voice and hesitance in her joyous state or she merely didn't care. She smiled at him.

"Eager aren't we?" Her voice was a purr and she was advancing on him like a tiger stalking her prey. She was closing in, getting closer and closer to her target. Michael didn't notice any of this, didn't note the huskiness in her voice or the sultry steps she was taking. All he saw were eyes that were blue not green, hair that fell limp when it should curl. He rubbed his eyes in frustration and looked again, all he would see was a girl that wasn't Maria, features that weren't what they should be. He sighed, onto objective #2 since getting Maria off his mind clearly wasn't a feasible option. "On second thought, I'll take that drink."

She stopped less than a foot away from him, mid prowl. Her disappointment and frustration graced her face for an instant before she was controlled enough to cover it up. "Whatever you want, Mikey G. You're the boss."

Courtney sauntered off into the kitchen. Once she was out of the room he pulled open the nearest drawer and started to ruffle through it. Pictures, her and Congressman Whitaker, him, at his apartment, him at the Crashdown, him walking down the street, him outside Maria's window at night, him and Maria arguing only Maria's head was missing, Max and Maria talking, Max Isabel and he sitting in a booth. Holy shit. This was scary, stalkerish. He grabbed the closest three and shoved them into his jacket pocket. He was spooked and wanted out of there as fast as he could.

"I've got Coke, water and apple juice. Which do you want?" Her voice caused Michael to spin around to the doorway, she wasn't there. He let loose a sigh of relief. Time to make his great escape.

"On second thought Courtney," she appeared in the doorway looking eager "I forgot I'd promised to watch the game with Max." Michael was proud of his cover it was still in his character and he would be watching game with Max later on if things went right. Just not a sports game, game as in prey and it would be her. For a split second he thought she didn't buy it the way her eyes narrowed. It passed and her face cleared into a disappointed look.

"OK, Mikey G but I'll hold you to a rain check." She advanced on him closing the space between them and kissed him hard, yanking his head down to her level. "A little something to remind you to remember that rain check."

Her lips were wrong, not full enough. Her lips weren't Maria's and he hated her for it. His thoughts drifted to her last words as he coolly walked out the door, _More like a little something to remind me your not Maria, never will be. _

………………………………………..

There was something crawling up Kyle's leg; something with more than 4 legs. Kyle was squatting in the bushes at the front of the house. He couldn't see much but was afraid to move. Dry twigs were so damn noisy. Kyle suppressed a groan and glanced down praying it wasn't a scorpion.

It was.

Kyle stared at its wicked tail and the scorpion tensed and seemed to stare back at him. It was ready for battle. _Damnit. How am I supposed to spy on Michael when I'm in a showdown with a murderous fiend of a scorpion? Spying on people looks way cooler on TV'_. His thoughts we're interrupted by Courtney's voice, "Eager can't wait?"

She scared him at first, really scared him. Kyle thought she'd seen him and because he was scared he nerves tightened causing him to bounce. His scorpion enemy didn't like that. The scorpion dug it's little legs more firmly into Kyle's jeans causing his thoughts to start up again. _The Lone Scorpion prepares for battle while his opponent Special Investigator Kyle "The Ringer" Valenti plots his strategy. No, that name just wouldn't work. It's definitely not cool or dangerous enough. Wrestling nicknames weren't going to cut it when deal with desert death bringers. The Roswell Ranger? Noo, way to Chuck Norris. I need to get out more, bad TV is cramping my style. OK, Kyle "The Great Exterminator" Valenti. Sounds good. OK, the Scorpion of Death prepares his attack and Kyle "The Great Exterminator" Valenti decides that a merciful death would be best for his enemy. A quick flick and stomp should do it. Buddha forgive me but I'm going to kick this scorpion's ass because to quote the infamous game Mortal Kombat "In the End there can Be Only One"._

Kyle knew his mind worked in weird ways like thinking in third person. He accepted it, its why he has such an off beat sense of humor. Kyle also knew that he would save the world someday and he'd practice for it today by offing the offending scorpion. He quickly executed his plan; flicking the scorpion off and stomping on it. A merciful death for a worthy opponent. He gave a mini bow.

While Kyle was busy battling his epic battle with scorpion he wasn't paying attention at all to what was happening in the house. With his scorpion conquered Kyle turned his attention back to his original reason for coming. He looked inside in time to see Courtney kiss Michael.

He was pissed, utterly outraged. _I didn't come here and risk my life to see Michael get some. We have an alien crisis here and all Michael can think about is Michael and he goes off to get laid. What the hell is wrong with him? _He was out of the bushes and into his Mustang before Michael left.

……………………

When Kyle got to Alex's he was in quite a state. He'd worked his anger up so much he could barely speak. He walked up to the window and climbed in without knocking. He stomped around the room. Alex was strumming his guitar when Kyle angrily burst through his window. He reacted with his usual aplomb, trying to ease the tension with a joke. "Hey man I didn't know the slumber party was tonight. Did you bring the chick flicks or is Michael choosing again?"

Kyle only glared at him punching one hand hard into the other. Alex didn't know what to do so he pulled a Maria and started to babble continuing to play out his little fantasy. Alex's mind was racing a mile a minute. He knew if Michael ever heard him joke about him like this, especially in reference to girlie movies, he would be pounded. Or blasted with some alien power. I mean the guy lives by heavy metal and wouldn't want his name connected to a chick flick in any way. But what the hell, Michael wasn't here to hear him and what he doesn't know isn't going to hurt him. Besides Alex had no clue about what was going on with Kyle. "You know Michael always chooses the sappiest movies. If he makes us watch "A Walk to Remember" one more time I'm going to hurl. Though he is better than Max but still why do we always let Michael choose?"

Kyle cut him off. His voice was tight and his eyes angry, "Don't talk to me about him."

Alex was momentarily confused, his mind was still in the babble-induced mind fog. "Who?"

"Michael. That betraying bastard." Kyle looked ready to punch something or someone, Alex glanced nervously around his room not seeing a good target other than himself. He took a step back. Swallowing down his fear of getting beat up by Kyle, a fear left over from Roswell Elementary, he put the thought out of his mind. Alex was curious and curiosity killed the cat, which is why he (and Maria) had reasoned (at the wise age of 9) the cat had so many lives. _Curiosity killed the cat. Curiosity about Michael usually ends in severe pain for the curios one. But the cat had multiple lives as does Maria. Coincidence? I think not._ Alex was still getting rid of the babble mind fog but filed his curiosity thought away to think about later so he could fully concentrate. It also helped that Kyle's impatient glares had the ability to help clear the babble fog quicker. "Why is Michael a bastard now?"

"Because Maria almost died less than 48 hours ago and he's busy jumping Courtney's bones instead of finding out who attacked Maria."

Alex didn't hear past 'jumping Courtney's bones'.

"He what?"

"He and Courtney are getting hot and heavy." Kyle was agitated, very agitated that Alex was slow. Alex meanwhile, oblivious to Kyle's perturbation, was still processing this information. He was trying to reason it out because there was no way that Michael would do that. He thought for a second, Kyle tended to have weird ideas of practical jokes. He narrowed his eyes.

"How do you know this?"

Kyle looked at him like he was a particularly slow Neanderthal. "I saw them. What do you think? I saw her tongue going down his throat." Ewww. Way to graphic of an image. Alex winced, his imagination had just burned a particularly disturbing image into his brain forever. Then anger replaced the disgust, well not exactly replaced but covered it up.

"Where? At the Crashdown? Maria is going to be livid." Both boys' faces drained of color at the thought of Maria knowing. Alex's eyes met Kyle's and Kyle shook his head and gulped before continuing.

"No I followed Michael when he and Courtney left early. I thought there might be something alien and he was investigating her since Courtney's new in town and was working the day Maria got stabbed." Alex nodded sagely he was impressed. He never knew Kyle thought that much. He motioned for Kyle to continue. "Anyway I hid in the bushes and heard her come onto him. Then I had to eliminate a scorpion-" Alex smothered a smile at the way that Kyle puffed out his chest at this part and Kyle's use of the word eliminate when talking about bugs. He was such a kid "- and I look up and they're kissing. So I left and came right over here."

Alex's smile and humor fell away of they're own accord. There was nothing funny about this. Nothing funny at all about Michael hurting Maria. End of story. Michael when finding out that Maria was his lover in his last life should be talking and reuniting with Maria NOT playing tonsil hockey with Courtney. Under no circumstances was that acceptable. Alex was absolutely livid and his anger made Kyle feel justified in his own anger. And his decision to come tell Alex. He looked at Alex and stared at the hard glint that had appeared in Alex's eyes. "I won't let him hurt Maria, not one of my girls. She's been though enough because of him, because of who he is, what he is."

Kyle nodded, Maria was family and Michael wasn't. "What are we gonna do about it? I want to pound him good but it is his personal life."

Alex shook his head. "We're all in this together, we don't have personal lives anymore. We'll confront him. Tell Michael what's what and lay down the rules. And we're going to do it right now."

Kyle looked at Alex wondering if Alex was aware of how scrawny he really was compared to Michael. He needed to calm down a bit before the big confrontation so he didn't get squashed like the scorpion. "No, he's probably still at Courtney's. We'll wait awhile and go because I don't want to see him with her again."

Alex considered this for a minute, then slowly nodded. "OK."

Kyle grinned a sudden thought occurring to him, "'A Walk to Remember', Alex? Where did you come up with that.." he snickered.

Alex's face turned slightly pink. "Liz and Maria. They've got horrible taste in movies." He gave a Cheshire grin "While we wait we can play Alien Blast 3 on playstation."

"Alien Blast 3, you say?" Kyle gave a demonic grin and followed Alex out of the room.


	8. Chapter 7 Part B since its too long

When Courtney's lips collided with his it unleashed a buried memory in protest. Her lips were wrong and the memory kept pushing at him to prove it. He managed to hold himself together long enough to escape her lair and get his bike around the corner of the block before it exploded onto him. He was lost to the past.

He was inside a smoothly metallic room with a triangular cylinder in the center. Lights seemed to play off the walls creating mosaic patterns from the glowing triangular cylinder. She was with him. He was banging his fists against the wall where they had come in. His anger and frustration pouring out of his battered hands onto the walls, they didn't even vibrate from his force. "Why won't this stupid Granolith let us out?"

They were stuck. They had been for hours, and it had been a long few hours. He hated waiting especially when something important was going on without him. He was missing the interplanetary council planned to talk of peace between the races. Only Zan was representing the Crown of Antar instead of both of them. It was his idea to schedule the talk but noo he was stuck in the Granolith with a worthless, annoying Chosen and a charged atmosphere. He was furious and she wasn't helping any. She was driving him up the wall.

Click. Click. Click. Click. He

He whirled on her, "Stop it! Stop flipping your stupid rock. It's driving me nuts."

She looked at him. "Whine, whine. I'm nervous! Just leave me alone."

He'd had more than enough of her in the last few days. Rath stared at her quashing all of his urges not to slap her. "Well, you're holy. Open up this stupid holy relic and get us out!"

Annoyance flashed across her lovely features. "Don't growl at me, Soldierboy. And it isn't a relic! I thought we'd gone over this but since your exceedingly slow-" growl "- I'll go over it again. I cannot open it. We're locked in because you're bleeding, it's a safety mechanism."

His frustration reached a boiling point. She wasn't pinning this on him. "Well why the abyss can't you open it? You're supposed to be holy. This is a religious object, it'd be like me not being able to use a weapon. Use your Chosen powers to open it and get me out." He was stomping his foot while he talked like a young child.

"I can't!" Her golden voice filled with frustration and helplessness. Her eyes were darkening. She took a second to calm herself down and began talking in a calmer, softer voice. "I can't, OK? I don't have any powers.-" Bitterness soured the voice he was growing fond of. "- I'm powerless in a planet full of people with gifts. I'm the only person who can't do a single thing with the power from my life force."

He was stunned, he hadn't known. To live like that, he couldn't imagine you would be at everyone else's mercy all the time. He watched her chest heave with emotion as she struggled with her breathing. He was also curious, the analytical solider noting the absurdity of the idea for protection purposes. "Why would they send you without powers? It makes no sense, you're a religious icon you should demonstrate their glory. Hmm, can you share your life force with a Uron? They would protect you, give you the strength and skills."

She turned and looked into the triangular prism watching the lights play off the walls. She took a long moment before answering. "No, the Chosen are forbidden to be vessels of the Uron. They don't want our souls touched or altered in any way and that's how the Uron bond.-" Her eyes strayed to his right forearm which was covered with a deep navy armor coming to a triangular point on his hand right beneath his middle finger. She looked at the stone set in it and looked back at the triangular cylinder she had been staring at earlier. They were the same, she reached out and touched the diamond shaped stone on his arm. It glowed softly. She yanked her hand back quickly. He watched all of it impassively. "- If the stone is in the Granolith why can't I have one? I've heard they change your personality and follow those who are reborn again. Did yours effect your personality?"

His face was still impassive as he looked at her. People normally didn't talk about these kinds of things, it was one of those unspoken rules. The bond was private. "Yes."

She tilted her head to the side. "How?"

"Ozma showed me how to distance myself from my emotions and the world."

"That's why you seem so cold!" Her eyes got big and a giggle escaped her mouth she obviously hadn't meant to say it outloud. She was still just a child in many ways. He felt himself nod.

"Well you have your voice as a power, right?"

She whirled away from him taking short angry steps away. "I don't! I don't blasting know. I guess they wanted me to be a joke because if people knew I was as powerless as their food I'd be a total joke.-" Her voice reached a screaming pitch. "Why? No powers. I don't know my message.-" She seemed to deflate again, falling back into a bitter jaded child. "Who don't you use your blessed powers guided by your blessed Uron to get us out of here, Commander?"

She was still facing away form him seemingly calmer. He let the silence bear out for a moment while he struggled with his emotions. She was a child still, only 16 cycles, yet so much more than that, more than she should be, especially to him. She aggravated him, defied him and fascinated him in every way. They'd fought, had a moment of understanding, almost been caught twice and discovered a new chamber of the Granolith. He'd wanted to kill her at least 7 times in the past 48 hours since stealing her xehg. He'd never felt more alive. Now, his adrenaline was rushing, like he was in battle. His heart racing, it was his move. He used his best battle strategy, one that had kept him alive and served him well. He let his instincts take over.

He took 3 quick steps, spun her around meeting her startled eyes. He crushed his lips onto hers. She was unsure at fist, not knowing what was happening or where to put her hands. Soon she relaxed into him and began to respond. It vaguely registered in a distant part of his mind that this was probably her first kiss and that it was highly unproper and unsafe. Rath was never one to regard propriety so he pushed her back leaning her against the triangular cylinder as he softened the kiss. Her hand on his chest was bunching and unbunching his uniform in the same rhythm his was kneading her side. He felt a burning sensation and pulled away for air. The burning sensation didn't abate with his first gulp of air. His eyes left her face, her eyes were still shut as if savoring the moment, and glanced down at hand clenching his shirt. The tattoo that covered her hand and wrist was glowing, slowly lessening in its intensity. Just like the prism she was leaning against dimmed. The burning sensation he felt on his chest was fading. It wasn't his lungs, it was the Royal Crest that marked him as the Commander

Reality came crashing down as the door slid open, putting an end to all the thoughts and desires of lowering his head to hers again. Her eyes opened: the mirrored orbs meeting his own. He didn't want to deal with what he'd done or the way her eyes hungrily locked on his or the fact he felt the same hunger for her. He turned and walked out without a backward glance.

Michael was back on his bike in the middle of cloudy street. It all seemed artificial, like a fake reality. He was still reeling from what he'd seen, his emotions riding over from his flash. He breathed in tasting the air, it felt so different on Earth than on Antar. His thoughts turned to the memory, their first kiss. Funny how history seems to repeat itself varying only slightly. He grinned faintly, and went to start the bike but found he couldn't because he was still shaking. Shaking form the intensity of a kiss that happened decades past. It unsettled him that she could affect him that way. It excited him but it also scared him. It's said that fear is one of the strongest emotions. Michael agreed, he'd lived most of his life in fear. Now was no different but it was a new kind of fear. He calmed himself down enough to restart his bike and drive home.

………………….

Isabel was jogging through the park. She stopped to take a quick breather and stretch her legs. She put her leg up on the empty bench leaning forward stretching her hamstring out when she felt something; someone. A boy was staring at her, a young teenage boy. She shook her head as if to dismiss him.

Really she was dismissing her own paranoia because she was Isabel, Queen of West Roswell and shouldn't be spooked by some freshman looking at her. It's not as if it was a new experience, she was beautiful and usually loved the eyes that followed her wherever she went. Not today though. No, today she wanted to disappear into the background and run anonymously. She needed to run, to fall into the repeating rhythm and lose herself to it. A temporary escape from her chaotic life and confusing thoughts.

She couldn't get the situation out of her head. The fact that Maria, scatterbrained babblemouth Maria that Michael had tormented mercilessly in elementary, had a past life on Antar. A past life with Michael. A past life she was getting memories of. She had the answers and everything Isabel had always wanted. Isabel was used to being envied but not of envying. But she envied Maria. Sure she'd been stabbed but the answers she got were priceless. The way Michael had looked at her and cradled her, it had brought about a vulnerability and desperation in Michael that she had never been able to touch in all the years she'd known him. She was jealous of the way Michael looked at her when he thought nobody was watching him. She was afraid that Maria would steal away her brother and that she would be alone. Always alone with nobody too look at her if she was their world. Not in this lifetime.

Isabel felt the presence again and it felt achingly familiar, her eyes looked around. Nobody in eyesight except the boy from earlier, he hadn't moved from where he was leaning against a tree staring at her. It unnerved her that wasn't acceptable.

She let her leg down and sauntered over to the boy. She put her best "Princess Isabel" look on and gave him an icy stare, "Can I help you with anything or are you just enjoying the view?"

She expected the boy to blush and stammer, possibly mutter a few unintelligible syllables before scampering off. Of course Isabel didn't get what she expected. He laughed; laughed as though it really amused and if the warmth of his laughter didn't quite run all the cold calculation out of his eyes who could blame him? Isabel certainly didn't think it had been that funny. In fact she wasn't amused by his behavior at all. She was outraged that this boy would treat her that way.

His laughter died down and he looked up and down; obviously admiring her figure, which was showed off to a great extent by her running gear. He smiled, "I don't see why you're complaining, you used to revel in the eyes following you.-" Her eyes narrowed, was he some sort of stalker? He leaned closer as if sharing a secret "- It was the best part of being Royalty.-" Isabel knew she should be booking it out of there but his voice held her captive and glued to the spot. "-You loved how their eyes followed you, worshipped you. Craved it so much you tried to recreate the sensation here but ruling a high school just doesn't compare now does it?"

Isabel felt her voice answering against her violation "No it doesn't".

She sounded different to her own ears. Her voice was lower, more husky, the type of voice that was honey. A weapon. Something was changing in her, waking up, as if someone was rolling over in their sleep. It was unsettling and at the same time exhilarating.

"You haven't changed at all. I've missed you, Vilandra.-" His face was so close now. His hand reached out to brush her cheek. "- A little welcome back present, ti Reynol."

It felt as though her brain was in the middle of a fireworks display. Isabel found herself on another planet staring up into a deep purple sky with 3 moons watching colors streak across the sky. It was beautiful, awe inspiring. She tightened her grip on the large hand she was holding and looked up. "Mommy, what are the colors streaking across the sky? Where are they going? Are they going to the three sisters?"

Isabel realized with a shock that she was a child of no more than six cycles. She was seeing her mother, a mother she'd been craving and waiting her entire earth life to see.

She was laughing and it was a beautiful sight. Her hair was immaculately braided and twisted back with ornaments that seemed to flutter like small fairies. Her dark eyes sparkled a deep metallic indigo matching the sky above. Her smile was easy and open, Isabel instinctively knew she was a great beauty on their world. "They're souls of the collective. Flying around in adventures and traveling home from their adventures. Coming home to Antar."

"Will they bring me a present like Daddy does when he travels?"

Her mother lifted her up into her arms with a secret smile. "I'm sure they will. They won't forget the most beautiful little princess. Now it's time for bed, little one."

The net might there was a present on her pillow. It had a beautiful necklace with beads full of tiny shards of stones so they streaked across as different colors. A perfect imitation of the shooting stars. The note on the box said, "From the travelers to the most beautiful princess. Never forget what you love the most."

Isabel felt tears prick her eyes as the flash faded away. Her mother; she'd gotten to see her mother and she was beautiful and kind. She was 1000 times better in reality than Isabel could have ever imagined. And this boy had shown it to her. "Thank you soo much. You have no idea what this means to me…." She faltered looking for his name.

"Nicholas. I've got to go now, I'll see you around."

He turned to go, and the oddness of the situation struck Isabel. "Wait? How did you do that? Are you an alien?"

He grinned. "Yah, but I'm not a threat to you. We're allies. I just want to see you happy again."

She smiled. "When will I see you again?"

"When the time is right."

He turned to go thinking, _When the time is right. When I need you again, when your part in the plan comes up._ He was pleased with how this first meeting had turned out. He'd gotten the suspicious Vilandra's trust simply by giving her what she wanted and now she was putty in his hands. _Now for the final touch._ He turned and tossed something into Isabel's startled hands.

She looked down at the necklace. It sparkled just like it had so long ago. A tear dropped down her cheek and she smiled.

……………………

Maria marched into Michael's apartment without knocking. She never knocked, it wasn't something they did. Michael was lounging on the cough watching commercials. He didn't glance up, "Max, I thought you said you didn't get off till 8."

When nobody answered him he glanced up and cursed under his breath. She was trembling ad looked as if she'd been crying. Her eyes were puffy and lips pale, not a sign of raspberry lip gloss anywhere. Her hair was plastered to her face and her clothing soaked. All in all she looked pathetic and broken. Maria was just staring at him with the door still open behind her. Michael was flummoxed. He got up slowly and walked by her and shut the door. She hadn't moved, this was bad. He hesitantly put his hand on her back propelling her towards the couch. "Let's get you dried off and warmed up-" His voice was soft and she nodded at the soothing tone.

She opened her mouth to talk, her lips trembling. "We needed to talk."

She looked so vulnerable with her big green eyes he nodded and grabbed the towel that had been on the floor for the past week. She was shaky as he dried her face off. A sudden thought occurred to him, she was in no condition to be driving. "How did you get here? Did you drive?"

She shook her head, little water droplets flying off in all directions. "No I walked."

Michael looked at her in disbelief then in anger. He couldn't believe her walking alone at night in the rain. His voice was quiet at first then slowly went up in volume as his anger mounted. "You walked? What were you thinking, Maria?-" He pushed her down onto the couch so she was sitting. "-Do you have a death wish?"

"Michael." She began.

He savagely cut her off. "No, Maria you listen to me. You can't go walking around by yourself. At night,-" higher and louder "-In the rain. God, Maria! You almost died.-" He slapped the remote away from the able in a fit of anger. "-Or do you not remember that. You were attacked. You can't risk yourself like this.-" His voice got softer but didn't lessen at all in intensity. "- I won't let you."

"Michael-" her voice was as tentative as the hand she reached out to touch his back. He didn't flinch or turn away so she took it as a good sing and continued. "-Michael, sit down-" she pulled him down on the couch next to her. "'I'm sorry I wasn't thinking about my safety."

He mumbled under his breath. Maria ignored him and let the silence fill up. They were sitting side by side on the couch, knees touching. It was one of those moments where they were communicating without words, just sending vibes to each other. He understood her fears about having a past and her fears of this life. He understood perfectly because he felt it himself, it was a rare occurrence that they were on exactly the same page. Sometimes it seemed like they were reading completely different books in different languages. Her hand reached out and took his. Whether because she needed comfort or was giving it he wasn't sure. He squeezed it back unsure. She scooted closer and leaned her head against his shoulder as if exhausted. He slipped his hand from hers and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, taking time to examine her face. She looked wan, lackluster and exhausted. The past 2 days had taken their toll on her. Though she appeared tired her eyes burned with a feverish intensity. He took a moment to revel in their silent communication before realizing that while it was enough for him Maria often needed words. And because she needed words he would try.

"I've had a few flashes in the past two days. One about when I first saw you and stole your vehicle. You were so beautiful.-" His eyes were staring straight ahead as if remembering and Maria was silent next to him urging him to go on. "-The next one I got was when you told the council that destiny would be our downfall. You were so young and yet so strong. That was the day our affair started for good, I think. Then today I saw our first kiss. It was in the Granolith."

"Tell me about it, please."

He smiled at her and pulled her a little closer. "It was kind of like our first kiss here. We were stuck in the Granolith and had been for hours. You were driving me absolutely insane, again,-" she swatted his shoulder "-then you had a breakdown and I found out you were helpless. Then you yelled at me some more and I grabbed you and kissed you."

She snorted. "Not a very romantic first kiss, Spaceboy. Or a pretty picture."

"It was dazzling in its own way, I'd never felt more alive in my life. I wish I could share it with you."

"Me too."

"Let me try? I'll try and send you a flash."

He reached over and softly cupped her face running the padding of his thumbs across her cheekbones. His copper bronze eyes met her green ones and he concentrated on their connection and the memory and trying to send it through to her. He pulled up both first kisses and how he felt about them sending it down their link. He leaned forward and rested his forehead against hers, "Anything?"

She shook her head. He looked at her and saw how much she wanted the memory, needed it to reverse her broken state. He worked on opening up his walls a little more. His face leaned in closer, "Anything?"

A small smile was beginning to form on her face. She shook her head. He pushed his insecurities aside for a moment as if compelled to by some other force. Maybe it was her pull on him or maybe it was something greater, he didn't know he just followed his instincts. His face was so close their noses were brushing and their breaths mingling. "Anything?"

She started to say no when the memory took them both. His feelings were her feelings, she could feel how he felt about her back then. She could feel how he felt about her at their first kiss now. It was amazing, a total bonding of emotions. It carried over.

His lips were mere centimeters from hers, a small smirk playing at the corner of his mouth. "Anything?"

He didn't wait for an answer just dropped his lips to hers. The kiss was sweet, long lost emotions still enveloping them. He pressed her back against the couch forgetting everything but her. Forgetting that he wasn't supposed to be with her, forgetting the world, forgetting Courtney. She pulled apart for air. "Something."

He smirked and kissed her again, working his hand into her hair.

The door slammed open. "Get your hands off of her!"

Kyle and Alex had arrived.

Michael pushed himself up, running a hand through his unruly hair. "What the hell?"

"I said get your hands off of her! Get away from her you bastard!" Kyle was livid and Michael had no idea what was going on. He was manhandled off the couch and away from Maria.

Alex looked at Maria's peaked appearance and back at Michael and mentally blaming it on him. "Look. I don't care that you've got 30 pounds on me or...or that you can kill me with some...some twisted alien power. I will not let you treat her like that. I...I don't care that Isabel treats me like crap, but no one does that to Maria, all right? She's not just some girl!"

Alex took a few steps away.

"What are you talking about?"

He turned around and nailed Michael in the face. "Ow."

Kyle piped in, glaring at Michael who was clutching his cheek, who was still sitting on the floor from where Alex had knocked him. "Courtney. Or do you not remember your little lovin get together after work at her place?"

Maria, who had been sitting on the couch watching the whole time unsure of what to do suddenly felt tears wet her eyes. She looked at Michael who was staring at her with a guilt stricken look on his face, "I can't believe you. You're with her and then you show me that memory? We're done."

Michael, who was on all fours, angrily yelled, "Now look what you've done. MARIA"

He tried to get up but Kyle's foot slammed down onto his back. Smashing him back onto the floor. "Don't."

She looked at all of them and ran out of the apartment, making it partway down the hall before bursting into sobs and sinking to the ground. Her dream was right.

…………………………..


	9. Chapter 8A

Disclaimer: See earlier.

Author's note: First off I'd like to apologize about the wait, it's been extremely busy for me

With Prom this week and various other stuff. This part will be in multiple sections since it's too long for me to upload onto FF in one. I'd love love love to thank Keirah, Red-rumm, CandylovinFehrian, and of course Magali for the reviews. I read them all at least 3 times. Great picker upper. Anyways this part is longer, it seems as the story goes on the parts keep getting longer. Oh well, Read and Enjoy!

Collision Part 8

"Let me up" it was a growl more than anything else. He briefly thought about using his powers to make them release him but just as quickly dismissed the thought. They were still friends, allies, and he couldn't risk hurt him them like he had hurt Pierce. He wouldn't hurt them that way; he had more control than that. He had to have more control than that or he was no better than an animal. Or Hank. Michael was jolted out of his reverie about killing Pierce by the abrupt release of pressure holding his back down to the ground.

He rolled to the side the moment it was up, an old survival instinct left over from living with Hank. He had a lot of old instincts left over from Hank, and some new ones like the baseball bat propped up against the wall next to his bed in easy reach.

He popped to his feet and backed up so that he had easy access to two exits, the door and a window. He felt trapped, caged into feeling things he hadn't felt since his emancipation. He had escaped the physical abuse but emotionally it went on, Hank's words would always echo though his head. More so now that he'd proved himself worthless by killing Pierce. Michael wasn't that scared (and scarred) little boy anymore but that little boy still lived on somewhere inside of him, occasionally popping out.

Alex took notice of the defensive posture and the caged look that was haunting Michael's eyes. He inwardly sighed, his anger draining away to an overall weariness. They'd gone about it the wrong way; just walking in and accusing Michael, like always. Anger had clouded their judgment and they weren't treating Michael like a friend and they definitely weren't treating him like family. They were treating him like the enemy, like he was worthless. They were treating Michael the way he had always been treated, like shit with absolutely no faith in him. They'd walked in and yelled at him, taken away something he wanted then beat him. They'd done everything Alex had ever read in his psyche class that abusive parents do to their kids. Just fabulous, in a way he it was worse than how Hank treated him because Hank didn't give a rat's ass about Michael but Alex and Kyle did and that's not how you treat people you care about.

Alex looked over at Kyle who still looked ready to pounce on Michael if he so much as muttered Maria's name. He reached over and grabbed Kyle's upper arm to both calm him down and restrain him if necessary. Kyle tried to shake him off but Alex held firm, backing up his silent message with a verbal one. "Let's all sit down and talk about it instead of bashing each other up like Neanderthals."

Michael seemed to have regained control or at least hidden the caged look and had his impenetrable mask up again using it to cover all unease with a trademark smirk and snide comment. "Yeah, because you know you'd lose that primitive fight, Whitman. You're too evolved all the way to your computers."

Alex almost smiled taking it as a joke until he looked at Michael. He definitely wasn't joking, he was dead serious. Apparently he hadn't forgiven Alex for punching him. Alex gulped and sat down as far away from Michael as he could.

Kyle was still standing, "We don't need to talk about anything. I saw you and Courtney macking it up less than 48 hours after Maria almost-"

Michael cut him off in a low gravely voice that was tight and deadly. "Don't talk to me about that. I know better than you ever will what almost happened." '_What happened before.' _It went unsaid but both boys could read the insinuation, Alex felt for Michael.

The tension in the room, which had lessened slightly with Alex and Michael sitting down, had spiked again. It was so thick that Alex needed a chain saw to cut it, with without a chain saw handy he used his only weapon available. His words. Sensing Kyle was going to speak Alex quickly piped in. "Guys, Guys back to your corners. Kyle we know what you saw now let's see what Michael has to say about it."

Michael shot Alex a look, which could be construed as a thankful look, but Alex wasn't going to bet on it. "I went over to Courtney's to investigate her-" at Kyle's snort Michael reached into his pocket "-I dug through her drawers while she was in the other room. You only saw the last part where she tried to jump my bones."

"Yeah, we're supposed to believe that line of bull."

Michael glared at him shaking his head, "Aren't you suddenly Buddhist? So you should have like faith in me, but for all of you skeptics I grabbed some of the photos in her drawers."

That shut Kyle up. He gave one more shake of his head then with curiosity getting the better of him he walked over to the couch and sat down.

"What the hell were you doing in the bushes anyway? Normally when you decide to spy on them you watch them constantly."

Kyle mumbled something, suddenly he felt ridiculously foolish for his scorpion killing when faced with a real live GI Joe, albeit an alien one. He also felt like in a way the scorpion got the last laugh because Kyle's mistakes caused Maria pain and a lot of drama.

"What?"

"There was a scorpion, OK?"

Kyle had definitely just dropped a notch on the macho scale; Michael shook his head in disgust. "Your weak, Valenti."

"Guys, focus. Michael what was in the pictures?"

Michael tossed the four pictures onto the table. "All of us, specifically the aliens. Well even more specifically me." He smirked.

Alex picked up the photos to examine them. The first one was of Max, Michael, Isabel and Tess walking with Michael's face circled in red. Alex blinked at it highly disturbed and more than a little creeped out. Goosebumps appeared on him and a shiver ran down his spine. He shook it off and flipped it over; "Hey what's this on the back?"

"What? Let me see."

Alex handed the picture over to Michael who had Kyle looking over his shoulder. It was Antarian, four ovals connected by an X. It was the four square symbol. Michael scratched his eyebrow deeply confused, "The four square symbol. Tess showed it to us when she first showed up. We think it represents the Royal Four."

Kyle looked at it, "Y'all should be superheroes. Like the fantastic four. That can be like your batman symbol, ya know? Send it up in the air when it's time to save the world. It'd be epic."

There was a long pause where Alex and Michael simply stared at Kyle. Alex reached over and whacked Kyle upside the head. Michael simply shook his head. "You've got a twisted little human mind. You definitely need to get out more."

Kyle rubbed his head where Alex had whacked him and grabbed a picture. "Chill. I'm just trying to lighten up the whole extreme stalker mood.-"

He looked down at the picture he was holding and stopped talking abruptly. The picture was striking, a personal moment someone had managed to capture. It was nighttime in the photo. Michael was standing outside a window looking in, his hands were balled up and shoved in his pockets and Kyle could faintly make out the outline of a hand print in the dew on the window. Michael's posture was rigid as though fighting an inner battle. His eyes were staring intensely inside at a figure curled up in bed with an expression that somehow managed to show intense longing while remaining inflexible. Kyle looked closer to see who was inside, spotting the blonde hair and tropical bedspread he queried, "Is that Maria?"

Michael who was still staring at the foursquare image looked up quickly, his eyes darting around the room in hopes of catching a glimpse of Maria. "Where?"

At the same time Michael spoke Alex reached out for the photograph, "Let me see."

Kyle held out the picture for closer examination by both. Kyle watched, amused, as Michael realized what the picture was and grabbed it. He suddenly seemed slightly self-conscious about it. Kyle looked at it again assessing its blackmail potential. It was high.

Michael grabbed the photograph away but not before Ales got a good look at it. He was stunned both by its contents and at the intensity with which Michael was staring at Maria. He didn't blame Michael for snatching it; it was an acutely private moment that put way to many feelings up for speculation. He was slightly embarrassed for Michael; it showed him in a light that he didn't want to be seen in. Exposing a side that Alex didn't know existed, he suddenly understood how Maria would have been able to fall in love with him. Before that moment Alex had no idea what drew her to the surly, aloof alien. The photograph that showed Michael with a look on his face that Alex identified with all to well because of Isabel; a look of excruciating longing. Because he identified with the feeling it also made him curios about it, he'd never really thought that Michael had really deep feelings for Maria. Mainly physical, definitely not the overwhelming need shown in the photograph. "So, um, do you do that often?"

Michael was staring at the photograph with an unreadable look on his face. Alex suspected he was drinking in Maria with his eyes, cherishing it. "Do what?"

Michael's voice had taken on a decidedly defensive tone.

"Watch Maria? I mean like at night." Alex was nervous about asking the question and nervous about what the answer he would or wouldn't get. But curiously won out over nervousness. Michael mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like "most nights".

Kyle gaped in disbelief. "So you pretty much stalk her. Which is ironic because you're being stalked -" He grinned at his own cleverness "- Wait, if you like her so much why aren't y'all together."

Michael glared at him. "I don't stalk her. I watch over her for protection."

"You didn't answer the question." Kyle obviously wasn't buying Michael's answer; after all he'd seen the photograph.

Michael sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "It's complicated and unsafe and I don't really know anymore. Plus, you guys ruined it."

Kyle and Alex both had the grace to look sheepish. Michael ended his glare, "Which I should probably thank you for. I need to focus on protecting her-"

He cut himself off when he flipped over the picture in his hand. He stared hard at the images trying to make sense out of them. Slowly his eyes refocus and he could read the words written there, "The Commander shows an unhealthy obsession with the human and his attachments jeopardize the mission."

His eyes drifted to the symbols written on the back. The first had a hot with a swirl on each side flanking outwards with a slash through the whole symbol.

He stared hard at the symbol and was hit with a flash.

……………………………..

He was standing on a plane with others his age with his k'sharnka blade hanging down at his side. They were all in an orderly line and Michael could feel his past excitement, fear and impatience for the impending scene. An older grizzled and heavily scarred man walked back and forth in front of them, looking at each of them in turn. He began to speak, "Training up to this point has been basic, weak nothing like the brutality and mastery you will need to become warriors, carriers of the Uron."

He looked around at the faces near him, some showed disbelief at the Master's words, they couldn't believe their training had been merely basic. It had been brutal, hell, constant battling both physical and mental. No kindness anywhere. Some had already gone, to weak to survive or to weary to go on. He scorned those who sowed their disbelief, they were weak; not cut out to be elite warriors of Antar. Other faces were like his, impassive, the emotion and feeling either long beaten out of them or hidden deep inside where probes couldn't touch. They had learned, they would do anything to survive. He would do anything to survive, he would be the best, even if it took everything he had.

The Master Teacher began to talk again, "Some of you are weak. Not strong enough for the next phase. We will not waste resources training you.-" The coldness the man exuded was enough to send a shiver up his spine, dreading what the phrase meant. "-Some of you might have the potential. The council has decided who will go on and who won't. This is the first cut, the first ceremony of severance."

More masters were arriving, this was important. He felt their eyes boring into him, testing him and probing him. This would make or break him for good. Either way there was no going back to the boy he was.

The Master Teacher advanced on the boy to his right, his voice was empty, flat, devoid of all emotion. Slowly he drew his k'shatkran blade and made a dot in the dirt followed by an upward curve to the left and a downward swirl to the right. He was confused, why was the Master Teacher drawing the symbol of life? Master Teacher looked at the boy and drug his sword across the symbol leaving a slash mark. The boy paled and Master Teacher reached out and touched his forehead, he screamed and fell backwards. Dead.

He felt horror and disgust. Overwhelming horror and disgust, he was murdered. Not given a chance to live. He pushed those feelings down locking them away. His innocence was gone. Master Teacher moved to stand in front of him, his eyes boring holes into his. He stared back, unflinching, letting the coldness that had enveloped him in the last minute as he watched T'shon fall to the ground seep into his eyes. It filled him, overflowing out into his glacial gaze, something flashed in Master Teacher's eyes. Respect? Or perhaps it was fear. He didn't care.

He drew the dot, his heart sped up, the first swirl; faster and faster his heart beat with numbness filling his bones; the second swirl; his heart stopped. He was ice, cold and numb. It was his only defense.

Master Teacher paused hovering the blade over the symbol of life. He moved on. His heart began to beat again. Once. Twice. Three times, but the coldness remained, it always would. And so it went down the line, some living to continue their training and some dying. He watched as Shata went down, her sweet smile fading forever. His closest friend in the training and all he felt nothing, all he could summon was an understanding that she wasn't strong enough.

Master Teacher spoke again stony voice echoing through his mind, "Severance. The symbol of death; become familiar with it, embrace it because in the end everything you touch will die."

Something was thrown at him, something shiny that clinked. Instinctively he reached out his hand and caught it. Dogtags inscribed with A!#, a name. Or more specifically something to be called until he learned his name, if he made it that far. A temporary identity. Maybe in another time or at another place the words would have shocked him, but not here, not now. Not when new metal dogtags hung around his neck. A constant reminder of duty, of the life he had been chosen for. He should have cared as he watched them die but with the cool touch of metal only coldness remained in his soul.

Michael's memory slapped forward.

A13 was standing in a line again, only this time he was older and the line was significantly shorter. He was a soldier, a warrior. The same Master Teacher was before them, "This is the final ritual of Severance. Those who pass will be issued identities."

He felt a flutter in a frozen part of himself, a flutter of excitement perhaps? There were only 13 in the line to begin with and at the end of the ritual 10 stood. He was one, A13 had survived training, had eared his life back in blood and sweat. He watched as A7 was granted his Uron and given a name, "Tonz." The Master Teacher stopped in front of him, "Stick out your right arm A13,

He complied and watched as an Uron attached to it. He immediately felt a presence in his mind, but bonding with his Uron could wait until later. The Master Teacher was speaking again, "Your name is Rath. You will be returning to your family at the palace and guard the prince. Ozma -" he motioned to the Uron on Rath's arm, "- will fill you in on the specifics and give you your memories back."

A!3, no Rath, was bewildered. The palace? He watched as the others ripped off their dogtags as they got identities. He left his on because part of Rath would always remain the boy that was A13 for years, he kept them on because they were duty and he couldn't escape it. He left them on because duty was his life, the chains that bound him. He would always wear them.

Michael was back in the present.

Alex and Kyle were staring at him.

Alex looked at him "You OK there buddy? You were really spaced out."

"Hey! Maybe that's why Maria calls him Spaceboy!" Michael didn't laugh at Kyle's great observation. He was too busy thinking '_What did it all mean? Death and duty? Death for Maria would return him to his duty._' He just didn't know.

"We need to call a group meeting."

"OK but why?"

"Because I don't know what it all means and a bunch of heads are better than one. We need to all be on our guard, the clues aren't adding up."

"Ooh a mystery! SO we're like the Scooby-doo gang. Creepy situation, check, bad clues, check. -" Kyle was part sarcastic, part joking. "- Scooby-Dooby-doo where are you?"

"Where do you come up with this stuff, Valenti?"

"Think about it, Guerin. Liz is like Velma, all smart bookish and noticing stuff. Michael is Shaggy simply because of the hair. The new shaggy do. Max is like Freddy because he does all the driving and takes the lead in stuff but tries to pretend he's not the leader until Shaggy pisses him off. Then he orders Shaggy around. Daphne is totally Isabel."

"Wait aren't Daphne and Freddy like a thing?" Alex was curious now.

"They were, but Fred has more in common with Velma. He and Daphne are totally better siblings. Now you, Alex, your Scooby-doo who's scared but comes through."

"You're forgetting Maria!"

This time it was Michael, who answered, "She's like Velma because she's really good at investigating and breaking and entering plus she always loses stuff like Velma loses her glasses."

"And Shag and Velma are kinda a couple except Shaggy isn't quite sure what dating means." Michael shot Alex a dirty look.

Kyle looked at him, and hid a smirk. "OK. Scooby gang will meet at five after school tomorrow."


	10. Chapter 8B

Author's Note: these two last parts belong to Part 8 but hte file was too long. Sorry about the delay getting them up but right after i posted part A ff decided it was going to do maitenence and not let people upload! gaah. Thanks for the reviews, I'll reply after I've got everything up!

Collision Part 8b "Fiction"

Keep me in suspense

And tell me what it meant

The end you set between you and me

Look me in the eyes

And tell me what it meant

Just before we both go 

"Fiction" Matchbook Romance

Nacedo had been keeping his distance from the teens after the last fiasco when talking about Maria. He'd been keeping his distance but still protecting them quietly and indiscreetly watching their actions and reactions. Watching as they struggled with reappearing pasts in fragments. He watched Maria and Michael especially close because their relationship was the hinge piece to his getting home. It bothered him that since Tess had renounced him and seeked shelter at the Valenti's the only pawn he had left was his information. He hated depending on a volatile, explosive teenage relationship. One that's solid ground was over a fault line, always waiting for the next disaster.

When Maria fled Michael's crying he was relieve, he didn't need them triggering more memories just yet. If they did remember more his chance of protecting the Royal Four and getting home was much slimmer. All because of one mistake form the past. A mistake he'd tried to bury even from himself, a mistake he was lucky to have hidden back on Antar or he would be dead. He'd loved the Royal Four and protected them back on Antar and one mistake, his own prejudices, had led to their downfall. He knew if Michael or any of the others remembered his job would be done and he'd probably be dead.

So when the chance came to come to earth he left everything he loved to guard them again. To atone for his sins, alleviate his guilt and give them the chance to live that he took away. He hadn't counted on Maria though, she complicated things so much more. He hadn't ever wanted to encounter The Siren ever again in his lifetime, but the Gods chose differently so he would guard her like the others. Even if it was only out of loyalty for Rath and a little fear of the Gods.

…………………………

Liz was busy filing papers in Congressman Whitaker's office when Maria burst in. Startled, Liz looked up when the door burst open slamming into the wall with a swishing of blinds. Maria had made her entrance. She looked like a frazzled addict with crazy hair and sniffing like a mad rat at the vial she held in her hand as she angrily babbled on. "I can't believe him. I seriously cannot believe what he did."

Liz was stumped, what on earth (or beyond) was going on. "Who did what? Michael?"

"Of course. That bastard." Maria dumped her purse open on Liz's desk with a flourish. It spread all kinds of vials, vitamins and oils onto the desk causing them to start rolling everywhere. Liz held back an amused smile, she was like a walking apothecary. Maria caught her smile anyway.

"What? What? I'm dating Michael Guerin." She said it as though it explained everything, in a way it did. Liz understood, she watched as Maria grabbed a dropper bottle opened up her mouth and dumped the entire contents under her tongue. Liz recognized the bottle as the grief relief Maria had once tried to force on her. Maria made a face at the taste.

A dark look crossed her face. "Well I was dating him at one point, but no more. But that was before I found out what a horrible cheating devil creature from outer space he is."

She picked up another bottle and started it unscrewing it frantically. Liz reached over and took the bottle away, no need to let Maria accidentally overdose and kill herself. "I mean we watched all those horrible, scary movies about aliens growing up. We live in Roswell after all. I should have known he would turn out to be psycho. But noo I was blinded by live so what why would I let little alien differences stop me?"

She looked to Liz for confirmation, Liz knew babbling was a way for Maria to relieve her stress so she just went along. "Exactly."

Maria reached over the desk, leaning forward and grabbing Liz's face between her hands. "WRONG! Wrong Liz! Being hatched is not a little difference. It's a major one, or having a past life as an alien soldier-" (Liz didn't think that pointing out that Maria also had an alien past life would help the situation any so she held her tongue) "-Spinning a cocoon when sick should have been a gynormous clue that human-alien relations were a bad idea. But noo. Or how about he personal hygiene habits. Like the hair. Liz why did you let me get involved with an alien who got confused and thought he was a porcupine? Why?"

She let go of Liz's face with one final shake and slumped into her chair. "Oh why. Why would he do this to me? I died for him. I d-i-e-d for him, I almost did again and he turns to that… that tramp. Liz she's not even a real blonde!"

"Who's not, Maria, who's not a real blonde." Liz was frantically rummaging through her mind through all the blondes she knew and was praying it wasn't Isabel.

"Courtney! Michael kissed that skank. I mean she's been all over him but I thought I could trust him…-" A small dry sob escaped. She was long out of tears.

Liz stared at Maria, she was shocked. She reached over and hugged her. "I'm so sorry, Maria.."

Congressman Whitaker smiled inside her office, very please before walking out. 'Liz, oh I didn't know somebody had stopped by to see you.."

Liz popped out of her seat. "I'm sorry, it won't happen again."

She smiled, "Don't be. I don't mind we're not exactly super busy all the time. Boy trouble?-" Maria nodded. "Tell you what you leave early and help her out. Get her mind off of him."

"Really?"

"Sure thing. Us girls have got to stick together."

"Thank you so much-" Liz began as she and Maria swept the mass back into her purse.

"Not a problem." The congressman cut her off and made shooing motions with her hands.

Liz and Maria were only too happy to comply.

………………..

School started just like every other year in Roswell. 1000 sleepy kids, from waking up too early, trudged to their classes ready to impress and excited to see what was new. For Michael it was torture but for Max it was a form of heaven. He loved stepping into the ordered routine of class and homework; it gave him a break from the overwhelming alien responsibilities he felt for the group. In school he was only as responsible as everyone else was, a regular kid who sat in the back and didn't talk much. He wasn't the exiled King of Antar with a race of people waiting for his return and their liberation.

With all this floating around his head he was in a particularly good mood when he slipped into his seat next to Liz in their new Chemistry class. She smiled tentatively at him, "Ready for a New Year, Partner?"

"A New Year and a fresh start?" Max couldn't stop it from slipping out, or the hopefulness that tinged his voice and colored his cheeks.

Liz pushed her hair behind her ears and nodded, "and some chemistry thrown in."

Max nearly laughed, they had plenty of htat already. But it would never hurt to have more Chemistry between them. He nodded, "Yeah, I'm definitely look forward to the chemistry part."

"Me too." And as Liz continued to tlak about what they would cover that year in science Max looked at her and realized something. They would be alright.

……………………..

Isabel spent her first day with the in-crowd attempting to feign interest while scanning the crowds for Nicholas. Apparently she wasn't subtle enough, "Who are you looking for Isabel? Eager to see a new boy-toy?"

She barely registered she had been spoken too, but responded all the same with her trademark dignity. "Just browsing the masses, appraising everyone's new looks."

Apparently the answer met with their approval because they started on a critique on everybody passing by. She barely listened until she caught a familiar name. "There goes little Maria DeLuca, longer hair and shorter skirts. She almost looks normal this year."

Before the nit-picking a new voice, a male voice, one that Isabel didn't recognize jumped in, "She's hot."

Isabel glanced around trying to locate the voice and match it to a face. She didn't have to look far, she just had to follow the surprised looks on the girls faces. He was obviously new and not bad looking. Not bad looking at all with his deep blonde hair and green eyes. Something about him was off, it bothered Isabel. Maybe because he was new in town and interested in Maria but he certainly put Isabel on edge. She didn't want him anywhere near Maria. "She's taken."

As Isabel talked Maria stopped to open her locker and Michael walked up to her causing a scene to evolve in front of the in-crowd. "Maria."

She looked up and shoved her book in her bag, "What part of 'it's over' don't you understand? I don't want you near me with a 10 foot pole and biohazard suit."

He ran his hand through his hair and she turned to walk away causing Michael to reach out and grab her arm. "Maria, we need to talk."

"What's there to discuss? You jumped that tramp's bones then forgot to mention it when we were together last night.-"

"Damnit, Maria. Just shut up and listen for once."

"Let go of me, Michael." Maria was pissed, and about ready to explode. Isabel was wondering what had happened and what the next large Maria-Michael public explosion would entail. Maria started shaking her arm and Isabel wondered what Michael would do. His eyes were blazing and he obviously wasn't happy with Maria or the situation, he looked over at the Eraser Room and apparently decided he wasn't ready to be finished with the conversation. He determinely began to pull Maria in the direction of the Eraser Room against her loud protest and slapping hands. The students of West Roswell watched on, impassively having seen many scenes like this between Maria and Michael before.

Isabel heard the mystery boy murmur, "Apparently she's not." Vaguely in her direction before stepping in. "Let go of her."

Michael looked at him before deciding to ignore him and continue on. The guy reached over and grabbed Michael's wrist. "I said let go of her. She obviously doesn't want anything to do with you."

Sensing the power building up in Michael and not wanting items to start exploding due to his lack of control Isabel hastily stepped in, "Michael."

He shot her a nasty glare so Isabel grabbed his arm and began walking down the hallway with him. Leaving Maria to fend for herself. Michael was still seeing red as she marched him away, hearing bits and pieces of the conversation. "Did he hurt you?"

And Maria's reply, "Not today, no. Thanks. I'm umm Maria."

"I know, believe me I know."

"Michael what is your problem?"

"Maria's being difficult."

Isabel rolled her eyes, it wasn't Maria who was being difficult. "What was she talking about? Jumping a tramp's bones.."

"Courtney kissed me and Maria found out." He was scratching his eyebrow trying to avoid her gaze.

"Michael!"

"What? What? It wasn't my fault!"

"Whatever. We'll talk about this later. I'm going to go find out more about that new guy."

"The one who's bothering Maria?" Michael was more interested.

"Yeah, I don't like that he's new."

"I don't like him in general. My apartment after school. Gather the Scooby-gang."

Isabel quirked an eyebrow. "The Scooby Gang, Michael? Since when are we a group of bums who travel around in a bag solving mysteries wearing bad fashion."

He just shrugged, "Alex and Kyle came up with it."

She laughed.

……………………


	11. Chapter 8C

Collision Part 8c

They were all gathered around Michael's dinky apartment. Isabel, Max and Tess on the couch. Alex and Kyle were on the floor and Liz and Maria were over at the breakfast bar. Michael was pacing around. He didn't want to show all the photographs, not with Maria in the room, or with everyone else there. But he knew he had too, the memories had been too strong for him to resist. Everyone was looking around at each other, back and forth at Michael waiting for him to tell them why they were here. Kyle, the eager puppy he was, decided he'd do it for Michael.

"OK! We've called this meeting of the Scooby-Gang together to discuss our latest mystery and add up our clues. So far, Michael, Alex and I didn't get very far."

"Scooby-Gang? What are we, in fifth grade? And what is this mystery? Whether we should tell Michael's new tramp about aliens?" Maria obviously wasn't happy about being there with Michael. She shot him a nasty look and he noticed the Teflon mask was securely in its place. They needed to talk about it, but right now her life was more important to him so he let her comment slide.

He scratched his eyebrow in consternation, "Kyle and Alex think we're like the Scooby-Gang. Besides that we're here because when I went to investigate Courtney-"

Max jumped down his throat before he could continue. "God, Michael! Do you have a death wish? Why do you always have to run off and do things without telling us first, you could have been killed. Show some responsibility and concern for your life. You always -"

This time Kyle, sick of hearing Max go off on Michael, jumped in. "I followed him, OK? It was all safe and dandy Your Highness, so let's talk about what he found."

"An STD?" Maria still wasn't happy and it showed in her sarcasm. Liz shushed her as Michael rolled his eyes.

Kyle to the rescue again, "That was a misunderstanding Maria. Sorry about that, she jumped him. We'll talk about it after this OK."

"Whatever. Get to the point. I bet she's responsible for an attempt on my life."

Michael decided it was time for him to step in before Maria got any worse. He glanced at Max's disapproving face, why couldn't he just understand? They were different, Max thought things out and always had a plan. Michael went on instinct and in the heat of the moment. Michael knew he would never change, but every time Max looked at him like that he still felt guilty and hurt. He wouldn't change but disappointing Max would be his price and sometimes he wondered if it was too high a price to pay. He'd looked up to and envied Max his whole life and even now that he had his own apartment he couldn't shake the habit. With one final glance at Max he began talking, his voice unnaturally loud. "Anyways, I was searching Courtney's house and found pictures of us. All of us." He let that sink in and quiet the murmurs before continuing, "Mainly the aliens, there was at least one of us in every picture. But there were also a lot of pictures of you." His gaze was directly on Maria.

Maria shivered, it was disturbing to know that someone had targeted you and was watching you discreetly. She suddenly felt very exposed and vulnerable. But she had to know, "What kind of pictures? Like the ones that were in Tess' when she first moved in.. surveillance pictures?"

"Yeah, exactly like that. I managed to filch some, and when we were examining them we found alien symbols on the back." Michael's eyes hadn't left Maria's so he wasn't sure how the rest of the group was reacting to the news.

Max seemed to realize that he was the leader, "So Courtney is probably an alien." Michael watched as the thought hit Maria, her eyes narrowed and turned from his. He wondered what she thought about that, if she thought he'd kissed her because she was like him. If she would lose him to a fake blonde with creepy pictures of him. He shook the thoughts away when Isabel began to speak.

"Lets look at the pictures, and see what we can make of the symbols."

Michael dug them out and with a last apprehensive look at Maria dropped them on the coffee table in front of the couch. He watched as Maria's curiosity won her over and she moved closer to stand behind the couch and peer over Max's shoulder.

Max was holding the picture of himself, Isabel, Michael and Tess walking with Michael's face circled in red. Isabel and Tess were peering over his shoulder at the photo with Maria. He shook his head and flipped the photograph over to see the foursquare symbol. Tess murmured, "Four-Square. The symbol for the Royal Four. Whoever wrote this is definitely Antarian and probably not friendly."

Max agreed, passing the photograph over to Tess for further examination he grabbed the next one. He peered closer to see it was a picture of him and Maria talking in the back of the Crashdown but her head had been savagely cut off. It was distinctly violent and a gesture of hate towards Maria.

"Whatcha got there, girlfriend?" Max winced at her voice but held the photograph up for Maria to see. He heard her sharp inhalation of breath and turned around to see her face lose all of its color. Her hands gripped the back of the couch and Max started to stand ready to catch her if she fell but sat back down when he realized Michael was already there, waiting in the shadows. She swayed but whether it was from anger or faintness Max wasn't sure, all the same Michael was immediately behind her putting his hand on her waist to steady her. She tried to flinch away from him but he wasn't budging. She was spitting mad and feeling very overwhelmed, Maria was close to another breakdown. With one look from Michael Isabel was out of her seat in a second and Maria was propelled downward into it. She looked up at Michael for a second as if she was about to say something, then abruptly changing her mind she grabbed the photo from Max's hand. She stared at the empty spot and jagged edges where her face should have been and looking up at Michael she spoke in a soft voice, "She defaced me, Michael. She wanted me dead and you let her kiss you."

He supposed her not accusing him of kissing her was a concession so he merely sighed and propped himself up on the armrest, "No, I threw her off. I had to investigate her house and not seem suspicious."

Maria didn't look as though she believed him but when Max nudged her and showed her the picture he had picked up in the meantime her opinion changed. She stared at Michael outside of her house watching her sleep. She didn't know what to think or how to feel. How could he have kissed Courtney when he was staring at her like that. It was so tender and private that she wanted to cry and never let go of the picture. It gave her indisputable truth that he cared about her. That he loved her. She looked up at Michael to see him carefully watching her face for her reaction. She knew he didn't want her to make a scene about it and that he would immediately shut down if she commented on it. Something nonverbal passed between them and she suddenly understood that she spent her summer crying about him with Max and calling him obsessively and he spent his summer watching her from the shadows. Torturing himself. She glanced over at his message machine and saw the 5 tapes neatly aligned beside it, with another glance at her face she realized that he'd saved them. He'd listened to every message she left and saved it not ignored them. Something inside her shifted, she wasn't happy that he'd kissed Courtney but she would let it go. It wasn't an important detail, it couldn't match up to what they shared. Not when he had been saving her messages and watching her all summer, before he knew she even had any link to his past life. Maria glanced at the picture again and softly touched his face in the photograph and gave a small, secret smile. "Can I keep it?"

Michael looked relieved that she hadn't made a big deal or commented on the contents. It was just to private to do in front of an audience. He scratched his eyebrow self-consciously and nodded. She beamed at him, all of her earlier emotions because of the first photo gone.

Isabel stared at the photograph in Maria's hand. She couldn't believe it, she knew Michael hadn't been sleeping well over summer because of Pierce but she'd had no idea where he went when he didn't come to their house. She stared at how Michael was staring at Maria in the photograph and her earlier feelings of losing him and jealousy towards Maria resurfaced. He was so ardently staring at Maria like she was his only salvation in the world. His feelings, his despair, his want, his need, were written on his face plain as day. It touched Isabel in a way she'd never been touched before, it woke her up. Her eyes looked up and met Alex's. He understood what she was feeling, he always had. She gave him a brilliant smile.

Liz had come up to the couch to hover over Maria when she began to sway. She couldn't tear her eyes away from the snapshot. It was unbelievable, she had never seen that side of Michael. Looking at the way he watched Maria she could begin to understand Maria's attatchment to him better, that it was way more than just a physical attatchment. Sometimes Liz forgot that she wasn't the only one in a valid love struck relationship (or quasirelationship) with an alien. She'd reduced Maria and Michael's relationship so many times in the past because she hadn't thought it had the same depth as hers and Max's did because they were so different. She suddenly felt horribly about it, about how she and Max had pretty much talked Maria and Michael into cooling it during the heat wave then starting something up with Max right after. She'd had no idea because they were so physical at first, she'd have to apologize to Maria about that later. Her eyes wandered from the photograph to the looks passing between Michael and Maria. Liz could tell with a best friend's radar that he'd just been forgiven and that they were communicating something, but she couldn't read Michael's vibes. She needed words, and though she couldn't tell exactly what was passing between them she caught a glimmer of the expression he'd worn in the photograph as he gazed at Maria. Liz smiled and found herself reaching out to put a hand on Max's shoulder.

Max leaned over to the picture in Maria's hand and took it, "Hey that's mine!"

He ignored her and turned the photo over. His eyes stared at the symbols trying to place them. He felt as if someone had poured cold water down his spine. Slowly his gaze turned to Michael. "Michael. ………. This is why we're here isn't it."

It was a statement, not a question. Michael aknowledged the truth to Max's words with a nod. Isabel and Tess both leaned closer to peer at the symbols. It was Isabel who spoke first, "Michael. This first one, it was yours somehow, I don't remember exactly how but I know that it was associated with you."

He nodded and with one last look at Maria he began talking. "The first symbol means Severance, or that's the nearest translation anyway, and it's the symbol for death. -" He ignored Maria's sharp exhale of breath. "- It also is associated with the elite forces of Antar. Which I was a member of." His face twisted at the bitter taste those words left in his mouth, those memories would haunt him forever. Max sent Michael a questioning glance but Michael chose to ignore his silent curiosity.

Maria's voice was remarkably strong, "So it's was a symbol of death for me."

He looked at her steadily, lying wouldn't help anybody. "Most likely."

She nodded, Teflon babe was in control. All the same, Michael shifted on the armrest so that they were a little closer. "The second symbol I think represents duty but I'm not positive."

Isabel was staring at it and suprisingly found herself speaking up, "No, it doesn't."

There was a long pause, before Michael couldn't take it anymore. "Well what does it mean?"

Silence reigned as Isabel remembered.

……………………………

It was dark, the darkest part of the night. It was the witching hour and she had snuck out to see Kivar. Her eyes looked upwards and caught his and she was falling into them. They were a shade so intense that she could stare into them forever. In moments like this she believed that he was right about them belonging together. That they were written to be in the prophecies, but these moments were coming fewer and farer in between. Vilandra sighed savoring the feel of his arms around her. She felt so safe, safe and beautiful. Everything she wanted. She could forget the games they played with each other, the fact that she dallied with Nykot often and that he was plotting against her family.

Kivar stroked her cheek, "You will always be mine, my sweet enchantress."

The familiar phrase soothed her soul, glazing the feeling of betrayal she felt during these meetings. After all Rath had his fiery priestess. Oh, but she wasn't supposed to know about that. A sly smile graced her lips. "What's on your mind, Vilandra?"

She reveled in the smoothness of his voice before answering, "Oh, just thinking about Rath and his paramour."

She watched a flash of curious delight flash across his features before it was replaced with a loving gaze, "I wasn't aware he had anyone. He seems so…. removed. Are they seriously involved?"

Eager to please, and happy to gossip about it she talked. "Well its supposed to be a big secret because he doesn't want her to become a liability."

"Well, you know I'm good at keeping secrets. I've kept us."

She smiled, he'd taken the bait encouraging her further. "I saw them together in the secret garden on my way to meet you. Well, actually I heard them first. They were bickering about her going to investigate the rebel movement out west. He didn't want her to go. Hearing Rath lower his voice and their argument ending I slipped closer. He was being gentle with her, I've rarely seen Rath gentle. And never with a woman. Yet there he was touching her as if she would break or disappear. Then they were kissing and the stone in his Uron was illuminated and her tattoo looked like it was on fire….."

Kivar interrupted her with a question. "His Uron was glowing? Hmm…. That's very interesting."

Isabel looked at the Uron on his arm, "What does it mean?"

"I'm not sure. But you say her arm was glowing too. Maybe they're undergoing the Granix?"

Vilandra was shocked and slightly upset. "No. No. Rath would never do that, he always says it's too much of a risk. That he wouldn't want to be bonded to anyone and that they would be too easy of a target."

Kivar nodded the wisdom was wise. But still, it niggled at him. He'd have to ask his Uron later what it meant, he had a feeling that it was a signal that they should Granix if they weren't already. "Your probably right my sweet."

Her voice held supreme authority, it came from being Royalty. "Well to get to the rest of my story. I saw Rath the next day and noticed he wasn't wearing his dogtags. He always wears his dogtags. They represent everything to him. I've never seem them off. I asked him about it and he told me it wasn't any of my business. So I think that she must be serious because those dogtags represent duty to him, he's said it a million times. He either gave them to her, she took them or he's discarded them. It worries me because he can't forget his duty."

Kivar knew all about the dogtags and how hard abandoning them was. He still had his, K7, with his blade. He also knew that they were especially important to Rath, he'd left them on even after they'd been issued names. A13 was a legend. The woman must really be something to have gotten him to take them off, shuck aside his duty. He was curious. "Did you recognize her?"

Vilandra smiled. "I've been waiting for you to ask. It's the best part. Who wouldn't recognize her, its one of the Chosen. Guess!"

He was shocked, she could tell. He was utterly flabbergasted. "Don't kid me. Not even the rebellious, if loyal, Commander would cavort with a Chosen. It can get them both killed, and they can't bond with anyone."

She pouted. "You don't believe me! Well he is, and it's The Siren, Qaelia."

She saw the wheels turning in his head, it wasn't good. "She's just a child. Not even to her akino. He's going to turn the Gods and the people against him if they find out. But then again she is a powerful ally, with her voice."

Vilandra nodded but before she could speak Nykot approached. His eyes bored into hers and she felt a familiar flutter at the sight of the brutal warrior. He didn't say anything. Just handed Kivar a note. Kivar opened it and she read over his shoulder. It was only one symbol.

Betrayal.

Kivar's voice was clipped, "who?"

Nykot answered promptly, "Jontu. He wants Rath as king instead of you."

A spasm crossed Kivar's face. "Torture and Kill him. His whole family."

Vilandra gasped, why the family too? It was too harsh. Kivar looked at her, his deep eyes looked cold and bored into her. He looked from her to Nykot, slowly, assessing them. "It's the price for betraying me Vilandra, I don't tolerate betrayal. Remember that."

………………………………..

Isabel was back in Michael's apartment. "It means betrayal."

Max and Michael shot her looks, she didn't want to talk to them. She suddenly felt horribly guilty for telling Kivar that. She had a feeling it cost Maria her life. She also had a feeling that this Kivar person was important and so was betrayal. She had a very bad feeling about his last words to her.

Alex mused aloud. "Death and Betrayal. What does it mean. Does Antarian go right to left like Hebrew? So it would be betrayal leads to death?"

They shrugged. Max spoke up, "It makes more sense."

"Whatever it means I don't like it." Liz's voice was strong.

Max glanced at her, "I don't think any of us should be alone for awhile. We're easy targets, and now we know we're being watched. It's like the FBI all over again. Anyone had any weird experiences or noticed anything else lately?"

Isabel knew she should speak up about what happened in the park but she couldn't bring herself too. She knew Max would forbid her from seeing Nicholas and she needed the answers he had too much, she kept her mouth shut. She would tell them, just not yet.

Michael glanced at her and Maria, "There is a new guy at school who seems overly interested in Maria."

Maria looked at him, "He was just being nice, but it still is an odd coincidence."

Max's eyes met Michael's he understood what Michael wanted him to do. He could tell Maria to keep away from him without her getting upset, but if Michael did well stick a fork in him because he's done. "Keep away from him. We don't get close to anyone new right now."

Maria's cheeks burned. "I can't. I agreed to study with him at the Crahsdown later."

At the looks everyone gave her, her face got even redder. "What? He's new and he didn't cover the same stuff in English last year. I'm helping him out, like he helped me out."

Michael was totally and utterly completely pissed. How could she do that. "You're not going."

"Don't tell me what to do."

"It's not safe, Maria. I don't like him. He's creepy and he's interested in you. What right do you have to go around making study dates with boys on the first day of school anyway?"

She was angry too. "Well sorry, seeing as that I was under the impression you and skanky alien girl were macking it up I made a decision. God, Michael. I'm not some dog you can chain up to protect and unchain to play with when you want."

"Maria this isn't about us. -"

She savagely cut him off, "Like hell it, isn't. We both know it is. Don't you dare pull the I've got to keep you safe routine or I swear I will rip of your head. Why can't you just admit to it or commit to us. God Michael, I died for you and now your trying to suffocate me in this non-relationship. I can't stand it."

He stared at her. He was hurt by her words. "Non-relationship? Fine, go off and get yourself attacked again. Or have some sleazeball try and take advantage of you if he's human. It's not like I care or anything, it's not as if I have feelings and need time too."

She was starting to feel sorry and reached out to touch his leg. "Michael. He won't take advantage of me. I'm a big girl I can handle it."

He stared at her, still angry. He was aiming to wound. "Maria. You're 5'4" and skinny, a kitten could take advantage of you. -" He cocked his head to the side, "- Or is it he won't because you'll let him have his way with you. As I recall you never put up much of a fight."

She spluttered. He'd just implied she was easy. She wouldn't rise to the bait, not this time, he was trying to push her away. It was time to switch tactics. "Neither did you. If you're so worried about it come with me."

"Fine. I will."

Both were secretly pleased with the outcome. Maria grabbed her picture back from Max and carefully put it in her purse. "Come on, Spaceboy. We've got to go study."

Max jumped in. "I guess that's all for today. We'll keep trying to figure out the symbols and plan another break in for Courtney's. For now just keep safe."

Keeping safe. They had no idea how hard that would be in the following days.


	12. Chapter 9A

Author's note: Ok this is the first half of Part 9! I'm in a major rush so I'm jsut gonna post it and I'll do my happy thank you's when I post the second half because I figure ya'lld want it posted if i was in a rush and we all know I love hte feedback! ok kisses

Part 9

Michael was anything but happy, if he could have been anywhere else he would have gone in a flash. There was only one thing keeping him here and she was sitting to his right. Glancing at the scene before him he scowled and slouched lower in his seat. Hearing Maria laugh he glimpsed her smiling and laughing at whatever Victor had said. He hated Victor, or Vicky as Michael had privately named him, and they'd only been at the Crashdown for a total of 10 minutes.

He hated how Vicky had already given Maria four compliments and how it was always so hard for him to find the words to admire her. She'd always wanted the more romantic notions and he'd never been able to give it to her. He'd failed once again, only to be shown up by a new guy with coifed hair and expensive clothes. He hated that it was supposedly a study session yet neither had opened their books. But what he hated the most was how Maria actually seemed to be enjoying Vicky's company.

He hated how he was on the outs with Maria because of a few 'harmless comments' he'd contributed to the conversation. Apparently he was rude and uncouth and that Cannibalism wasn't an appropriate subject to talk about while glaring at the boy. So he was sitting there massaging his ribs from where she'd punched him, effectively banishing him from the conversation.

She laughed again and he considered bolting but with another look at Vicky's lecherous gaze he reconsidered. He wouldn't let him hurt her. He settled for draining his cherry coke in one gulp. She swished her long hair, the blonde curls flowing softly around her back. His fingers felt a familiar itch and he smirked. It had been entirely too long. He reached out entwining his fingers in the springy locks. She glanced at him with a smile playing at he corners of her mouth and Michael realized she'd moved her hair on purpose. He had a sneaking suspicion he'd just lost one of their contests without his realizing it. That wouldn't do. Grinning savagely he yanked. God, it felt good. He heard the familiar squeak and took a moment to revel in the sweet satisfaction it provided. This time she turned all the way to her left to look at him, her eyes were filled with age-old amusement and admonishment but also something else. The something else was also familiar; it was the look that had ignited many steamy eraser room sessions. Before he could act on it though two unwanted nuisances reared their ugly heads. Courtney walked up, "Hey Mikey G. I missed you last night."

She leaned over as if to kiss him or give him a look down her top but abruptly stopped short when she noticed his fingers still entwined in Maria's hair. Instead she flashed him a brilliant smile. Maria, who was about to say something waspish, was distracted by Victor "Maria do you think we'll read Shakespeare in English?"

She responded something or other but Michael didn't hear. He was secretly pleased that Victor had intervened, it wouldn't have been pretty. He was watching Courtney, watching the irrepressible anger that flashed across her features. Watched as she tried to hide the boiling hatred she held for Maria. Me mentally flashed back to every glance she'd ever shot in Maria's direction. Not one was friendly. Not a single expression or gesture to Maria hadn't been meanspirited. Suddenly he wanted Maria closer so that he could shield her and tell Courtney he wouldn't tolerate it.

Meeting Courtney's eyes directly he untwined his fingers from her hair and threw his arm over her shoulder and pulled her closer. Ignoring Maria's startled and questioning gaze, after all he'd never been big on PDA because it would ruin his reputation. He spoke quietly to Courtney.

"Your shift is starting."

With that he dismissed her and returned his concentration to the conversation. A sudden thought occurred to him, Courtney would be al the Crashdown for hours. It was the perfect time to investigate her. Michael was about to get up when he felt a foot seductively run up his leg; a foot from across the table. His head snapped up and he growled when he saw the supposedly sexy look 'Vicky' was giving Maria, personally he didn't see anything attractive in it. He fixed him with a dark, stormy warning glare.

"That was my leg."

Michael watched slightly amused as shock and horror flitted across the boy's face. He paled and looked to the door for escape then fear settled on his face. Pure unadaltered fear. It was heaven. Before he had much time to dwell on the fear in his rival's eyes Maria shot them a questioning look, "What was your leg, Michael? I know you didn't just discover you had two.."

Not taking his eyes off Victor he answered "Oh your precious Vicky is just trying to play footsie. I can only assume that it was an accident and not merely the wrong set of legs."

"Yeah, an accident. It won't happen again, Sir."

Laughter bubbled up from Maria, "You sound like your talking to a dad!"

Michael took his advantage while he still had it. "Go to the bathroom."

He got up and left.

Maria gave him an odd look "Issuing orders? Remind me to never call you Sir. Do you have to be so threatening all the time?"

He rolled his eyes, it was obvious he did. "Maria. Listen carefully, don't let your birdbrain wander. Courtney is working for the next few hours so it's the perfect time to go investigate her house-"

She gleefully jumped in. "Good idea, Shaggy! Let's go."

He sighed and rubbed his temples, she really was impossible. "No. I'll go, you'll do something else with one of the others. It's too dangerous."

Her eyes blazed, twin emerald fires burning bright. "Like what? Do you really want me staying here with Victor and Courtney working? Besides we're a team, Bonnie and Clyde, Mulder and Scully. We always investigate together."

She saw his eyes darken and muscles tense and the mention of her being alone with Victor and Courtney. She grinned n triumph, she knew she had him. Thought it didn't mean he would go down without a fight. It wasn't their style. He growled her name. "Maria. Bonnie and Clyde got shot. Go talk to Liz or something, do some of that girly stuff you do. Or try and make Kyle grow up."

She pouted and put on her best whiny voice. "Miichaaeeellll."

"No, Maria. You're not coming. That's final."

………………………………..

They were breaking into Courtney's house. Yes, both of them. Somewhere during the course of their argument he caved so there he was dragging her giggling little but into a house. "Michael we really are like Mulder and Scully!"

"Maria, we're breaking and entering if you can be quiet once in your life this is the time."

"Newsflash, Spaceboy. She's at work."

"I don't want to argue just search. This is exactly why I didn't want you to come."

She stuck her tongue out at him and started rifling through some CD's, "Bad, Bad, Bad, Worse, Terrible, Bad. Ugh, she has worse taste in music than she does in men."

"Hey! Just search the house." He was starting to get really really annoyed with her. She was being difficult.

"What am I looking for, Shaggy?"

He rolled his eyes at the nickname, his hair was so much better looking than Shaggy's. "Well normally when people search things they look for clues."

"No when humans need information they look for clues. When aliens need information apparently they shove their tongues down throats."

He rolled his eyes. "Drop it. Look for an address book or something."

"Yeah, because I always write my secret hideout in my address book. When I find it I'll be sure to look under H hideout."

"Shut up Maria."

He reached down and opened a cabinet full of lotion. Maria peered over his shoulder.

"Dry skin, much? You know, she's really like a snake. Reptiles shed a lot. And they're cold blooded, looks like you two really do have something in common."

He glared at her. "She's a skin. They shed."

"Are you defending her? Oh, wait of course you are. Y'all traded saliva and were best buds until you realized she was stalking you."

"When are you gonna let that go?"

"Not for a very very long time, Mikey G."

She ripped open the drawer and started rifling through the pictures stored there. Michael, Michael and more Michael. Michael, getting out of the shower. Michael and Isabel hanging out. Tess and Michael exploding rocks, Max and Tess talking. Her and Isabel tanning with big X's written in red all over her body and a quote that said, "Problem spots."

Maria was pissed. That tramp. "I can't fracking believe this. That little good for nothing whore, I am so not fat. I look so much better than her in a swimsuit."

"Shut up. What are you ranting about anyway?"

She showed him the picture, he stifled a smile. Girls were so petty. She glared at him and he quickly realized that it was his cue to say something to reassure her. "You're hot. End of story."

Rolling her eyes and realizing it was as much of a compliment as she was going to get she turned and walked into the bedroom. On one wall was a dartboard with her face on it. Shaking her head she walked over to the closet. Casually flipping the closet open ready to critique and bash her clothes she turned her flashlight into the closet. The light flashed over the contents.

Maria screamed.

The flashlight fell from her hand and she was plunged into darkness.

She screamed until Michael's hand clamped over her mouth shining his own light into the closet revealing the contents. It was a shrine, a shrine to him. The wall was plastered in pictures of him cut into little hearts and blown up. There was the Metallica shirt he'd lost at work and what appeared to be one of the Crashdown Café spatulas. The girl was sick. There were candles everywhere and it smelled like the aftershave he sometimes used.

Michael was disturbed, slightly flattered but mainly extremely creeped out. He glanced down to see Maria's reaction. She looked about ready to throw up.

"That's the shirt I lost at work. What the hell is this?"

"It's Graceland ………and you're Elvis."

"Wow."

"All you can say is wow. She's obsessed with you. She's, like, an alien stalker. She's been spying on you for weeks. She's been dreaming about you, fantasizing about you… Stealing your stuff, and who knows what else. Oh and she conveniently tried to off me because we were fairly close at one point. Good God, Michael it was definitely her. I got stabbed so some girl can have her little fantasy with you."

He looked at her, she was about to go into full babble mode and who knows when he'd be able to shut her up after that. Something else caught his eye, "Hey, shut up for a second. Look at that."

"What?"

He pointed at a picture off to the side. It looked like him, but at the same time it didn't. It was him with a shaggy mohawk, tattoos and piercings. Maria's hand reached out and grabbed it. "I didn't take you for the kind to play dress up.."

"That's not me, Maria."

Long pause. "Well you could have fooled me. ….. Then who is it?"

He grinned, "My evil twin. Seriously though I have no idea."

"Maybe it's part of her fantasy, she manipulates pictures of you." Even as she formed the words she didn't believe it. It was too eerie. Maria looked around examining the contents of the shrine more closely to see if there was another picture like it. A different scene caught her eye. A photograph of her and Michael in 5th grade, he was in the seat behind her yanking on her hair and she was turned halfway around in her chair ready to slap him. It brought a smile to her face, brining up memories of the good old, uncomplicated days. She nudged him and he looked. A familiar smirk graced his features until his eye caught something in the wall.

He stepped closer to examine the anomaly in the wall, it seemed to be a fake wall. Or a fake portion, like a secret opening to hide something. He jimmied his nail under the side and popped off the fake wall. Shining his flashlight inside it showed a book. Michael reached in and pulled it out, eagerly flipping through the pages. It was some sort of diary. Disgusted he tossed it down. It was just a girl's secret hiding place for her diary.

Maria gave him an odd look and picked it up walking over to the bed to sit down and read through the contents. She opened it to the first page.

Dear Diary,

I'm continuing to faithfully catalog our activities on earth, as one of the Royal Scribes I feel as if this is still part of my duties. Today the Royals messed up and sent a signal out alerting us to their presence. They've been so good at hiding that I was beginning to wonder if we would ever find them but now we know that they're in Roswell, New Mexico. Ironic isn't it? They never left the crash site, there really are aliens living in the little tourist trap. So now I'm packing up my stuff and heading for New Mexico to search for him. To convince him to return to Antar and overthrow Kivar. I've missed him so much, missed the strength he gave our people. Many others have given up hope of ever finding him, but I held on and now I'll be rewarded. From the pictures we found of their donors on Antar he is handsome. I can't wait to see him again and behold him in all of his glory. I wonder how humans react to being in Rath's imposing presence, and if he remembers the past. I can't imagine him forgetting all he went through, all he fought for. Then again he lost so much at the end that maybe they didn't send them with their full memories. I wonder if he and Zan are close in this life or if there is a tension they can't explain. At the end of Zan's reign they were almost strangers, their blood brothers bond almost completely disregarded due to Zan's foolishness. Then again we all know that Zan ruined our world and plunged Antar into a hotbed of civil and interplanetary war instead of taking us into the Golden Age. If only Rath had been in power, if only he'd taken the throne when he had the chance. I mean he had the religion backing him, the people, and the armed forces but out of loyalty to a bond Zan had disregarded long ago he stood by his king. If only Zan hadn't insisted on the engagement between Rath and Vilandra. If only, there are too many if onlys. I have to not dwell on what might have been and work on the present and finding him. It's time to go to Roswell.

Anhal

"Michael it's a diary, like an alien starship log. This could help us so much!"

He leaned over her and grabbed the book. "Let me see that."

He closed it and looked at the front, it had a symbol on it. His fingers reached and touched the symbol. It glowed and the book disintegrated like it was part of a husk.

"Damnit! What the hell was that for."

Maria was quite for a minute watching the dust float down around her. "Probably a defense mechanism to destroy itself if it fell in enemy hands."

He nodded and ran his hand through his hair. He was suddenly very tired of it all. "Let me put the fake wall back and we'll go. I don't want to be here any longer."

Maria watched the dust swirling in the air and nodded, all of her answers were gone.

…………………………

It had been a quiet few days since operation Investigate Courtney, but Maria still felt deeply shaken and jumped at every corner. It was too quiet. She decided that she needed a nice long hot shower to clear mind and wash away all of the creepy feelings she had. Smiling softly she carefully removed the photo she had of Michael watching her through the window. She gently placed it under the pillow she'd spent so many nights crying on because of him. A piece of paper caught her eye. She opened it up to reveal her mother's alien themed stationary with a note.

"Hey, Honey.

An emergency came up at the store with the shipments for the radiologist's convention. The shirts are stuck in Albuquerque and everything else is in Tucson. So I've got to drive to both places to get them. I'll either stay the night or be home really late. Sorry I'm missing out on our night, do all your homework.

Love, Mom."

Maria read the note and put it down slightly grateful that she would finally have some time alone to fully digest everything. She wished for the millionth time that she could tell her mother and talk it all out, especially since finding out about her alien past life. But alas, it wasn't her secret to tell. Gingerly she set the note down and got ready to shower.

She took her shower but couldn't seem to wash away the sensation of being watched. She supposed it came from all the surveillance crap they'd seen over the past few days from what Michael had at the apartment and what they'd found at Courtney's. She also tried to wash away all the snide remarks and dirty looks she'd had to put up with from Courtney since finding out her alien status, and the odd coldness from Michael. Sighing she turned the water off and got out. She was drying herself off when she heard the doorbell. Assuming it was Liz or Alex she yelled, "One Sec.'

She threw on a robe on top of her undergarments. She ran down the hallway tying the front of her robe shut as she went. Sliding to a halt in front of the door she opened it only to see Victor standing on her front porch. Maria stared at him for a second at a loss for words. Her mind was working in overdrive trying to figure out why he was here. Finally she managed to someone what compose herself, "Um hi. What are you doing here? Wow that was really rude," she slapped a hand over her mouth.

"I mean I'm just surprised to see you that's all."

He grinned self-consciously, the perfect image of a boy who was looking for any excuse to see a girl he liked. He ran his fingers through his blonde hair much in the same fashion Michael did when he was nervous, it was slightly endearing trait to Maria. "Hi to you too! Well I figured since' we didn't actually get to study the other day since Guerin dragged you off, and that I just found out we were having a pop quiz tomorrow in English over the summer reading I'd stop by."

He looked so friendly and innocent but something still felt wrong to Maria. She couldn't seem to remember if they even had a summer reading assignment, it all felt very fuzzy. How did he know where she lived anyway? She was about to shut the door in his face but he'd managed to worm his way into her foyer without her noticing. He was staring intently at her so she glanced down and self-consciously realized she was only wearing her silky robe. Clutching the front shut she started to back up.

"I need to go change."

"You're so beautiful." His voice stopped her in her tracks. It was soft and wistful. Exactly the romantic tone she'd always thought shed wanted before she met Michael. The tone stilled her steps once again and caused heat to rise in her face. Her body was betraying her mind.

"Excuse me?"

"I said you're so beautiful. You always have been." Maria paled suddenly realizing she was alone with him and briefly wondered if her mother's note was real or if she'd been taken. She pushed the thought away realizing she couldn't do anything about that at the moment. Trying to cover her growing unease she attempted to blow him off.

"That's really nice of you to say, especially since we only met today." Her words trailed off turning into a nervous laugh as she realized that he was always complimenting her looks, or her body. She'd loved it at the time and loved the effect it had on Michael, not that they were together or anything like that. All the attention from all the men in the world couldn't make up for Michael's non-attention to her.

He just flashed her an enigmatic grin. "Now I think we both know that's not true."

He paused, as if daring her to contradict his last statement. She opened her mouth but her voice wouldn't comply. She abruptly shut it, not wanting to feel foolish or give him the impression that he was taking her breath away. He winked as if he knew exactly what she was thinking before continuing on.

"He never deserved you, My Siren. Hell, he still doesn't. Now he's just a moody teenage punk with an attitude problem from the trailer park, not a vestige of his former glory or persona left. It's quite pathetic actually, but you my dear are a different story. You still shine with the brightest of the stars, perhaps even brighter in this life because nobody expects it from you. I'll never understand what drew you to him or him to you. But its not my place to ask those questions just to reverse the ill fortune you had of falling for him."

Maria opened her mouth to defend Michael and had to search for the words, after all he was a moody teenage punk. "He can't help where he grew up. You don't know anything about him, or about us."

He scoffed. "Oh but I do, probably more than you know. Now returning to the subject of your last lives. You know for attempting to keep your relationship such a secret a surprisingly large amount of people knew. But then again you were never good at keeping secrets. Not last time, or this time. I believe it was you who almost let it slip to the sheriff about aliens in the first place. And last time, what secrets you spilled. You were very naughty, my dear, very bad indeed."

Maria was riveted by his words, she couldn't move and his gentle tone seemed to be keeping her quelling hysteria at bay. "From what I understand everyone on Antar had secrets, big ones."

He inclined his head, "True but yours and your scoundrel of a lover. The unworthy one, had some of the biggest."

Her voice was stronger and bolder now, "Why isn't he worthy? From what I understand he was Antar's greatest general."

He made a face as if admitting his worth was painful to him. "Militarily he was untouchable, if Kivar had attempted the coup in an outright battle he wouldn't have stood a chance. But personality wise he was no price. Temperamental, demanding and rude. His followers liked to blame it on the Curse of the Gods. Personally I never bought into that excuse, if he was cursed by the Gods he deserved it."

Curiosity killed the cat and it might just try and kill her too. "Curse of the Gods?"

He had her distracted and off balance. Perfect, just where he wanted her. "Legend has it Rath was cursed by the Gods in his first life long before Antar was civilized. They say he is cursed to always walking hand in hand with suffering and death until he is atoned for his crime or saved by one of the P'hara."

"P'harra?"

He shrugged. "I can't really translate it into earth terms. Mystical creatures, that no longer walk the earth. I think kind of like your angels or blessed virgins."

She nodded as if his explanation made perfect sense. "Oh. Go on."

"So I'm guessing many lifetimes of suffering and death have given him enough good experience to be a great General."

Still riveted and wanting to know about the curse she queried him. "What did he do to be cursed?"

Victor looked troubled. "This is where the legend gets fuzzy, the prophecies have been translated many different ways on this point. Some say he used to be a deity, or at least one of the powers and that he stole the God's brightest treasure for himself. Others say he looked at Antar and loved it so much he forged the Granolith for the people. Much like Greek myth of Prometheus and fire. Yet others, the romantics, say he broke his marriage engagement to one of the three sisters to be with a beautiful and pure Antarian girl. A girl who had no powers, no galactic status, just an ordinary girl. His betrothed and her sisters were so enraged that she cursed him and made him suffer by watching her torture his beloved. This version goes on to say that the proud and arrogant Rath begged and pleaded with the Gods to spare her for her innocence. The Gods agreed and she ascended directly to the heavens and so the Chosen were born with her as their first emissary amongst Antarians. Their deed didn't come without a price and their price was that the Sisters' curse would hold.. It's also supposedly why the Sister's go in cycles because the God's punished them for torturing the innocent and took some of their power by only letting them have their full power at congruent full moons very rarely. They say that's why Rath's eyes were always so cold, because deep in his soul he never got over the sight of watching her torture."

Maria was stunned, poor Michael he always seemed to have it rough. Feeling his breath on her neck she glanced up, he was alarmingly close. When had he gotten so close? He had just been across the room. Looking up into his eyes she saw cold calculation and suddenly understood. He'd used the legend and her curiosity as a distraction so that he could close in and back her into a wall without her realizing it. She had no escape. He'd been playing with her.

Well two could play at this game. She stepped to the side while parrying with her words, "Angels are bright still, though the brightest fell."

"Shakespeare, _Macbeth _to be exact."

His hand slammed against the wall preventing her from further side stepping. Leaning back out he took on a jovial if slightly maniacal tone. "Shakespeare. I've always been rather fond of the Bard, he was one of the cultural studies of Earth that we did on Antar. He's become quite popular over there, you know."

He leaned closer so that he could whisper in her ear. "I know what you're trying to do. Don't bother, Princess. You're mine."

Before her angry retort could make it past her lips (and probably make the situation worse) he was kissing her roughly. She tasted blood in her mouth from the brutality of the kiss. He must have bitten her lip in his haste. With a lot of effort she managed to turn her head tot he side.

"No, I'm not, never was and never shall be. I never was that attracted to pond scum."

Her sharp retort earned her a harsh encounter with the wall behind her. Her ribs ached from where he'd forcibly slammed her into the wall. At that moment more than anything she wanted Michael, no matter how angry they were at each other or how annoyed he was with her he would always protect her. Victor gave a savage grin as she struggled with regaining her breath, "No you're his. Always have been, he used to hit you, did you know that? Its how I found out about your little liaison. He was so angry he lost control; he smacked you, knocked you to the ground and had his blade to your throat."

As he talked he imitated his words roughly smacking her into the wall and shoving his wrist to her neck imitating a blade while slowly crushing her windpipe.

"Not such a pretty picture anymore is it? He would have killed you that night and this life he's no better according to his family history and how I've seen him drag you around by force. Why?"

He was snarling into her face while shoving her harder against the wall. His breathing was heavy and labored, "Why?"

Slam, she could have sworn she heard her ribs cracking over the rushing sound in her ears and the dots swimming in front of her eyes. More than ever she wanted Michael there, she tried crying out his name but no sound made it.

"I always loved you. Since you saved me that day." She didn't respond and he abruptly released her throat as if only suddenly realizing she couldn't breathe let alone respond. Letting herself go limp she kneed him hard in the gut.

"Why? Because it's him. Someone you'll never be."

Apparently kneeing him didn't have as much of an effect as it would have on a human, or she was just weaker from the air loss. He looked at Maria for a moment and she could see the struggle for control in his eyes and the exact moment he lost it. "Maybe you just like it rough."

She tried to make a break for it but he grabbed her by the hair, backhanded her so hard her vision faded in and out of black and began dragging her down the hall towards her bedroom. All the while ranting and muttering to himself.

"I loved you. You saved me from being executed in my small village. But you had to turn to him, always better than me. So I come down here at Kivar's request to get you and the oaf apart and you back on Antar. Well now you're not holy so I don't feel bad about having some fun with your gorgeous assets."

That was it, she wasn't going to stand for this little crazy alien man attempting to have her way. Realizing she was on her own and no white knight was going to come and save her she stepped up. She was dazed but the survival instincts were kicking in. She did the only thing she could, she started screaming for Michael and struggling. She didn't notice at the time and probably never would that someone inside of her was screaming for Rath, that she was yelling both names as she was dragged brutally down the hallway. Neither Rath nor Michael came flying to the rescue so she kept struggling making a mad grab for the door and clinging for dear life. He kicked her hands off.

He threw her onto the bed, her hands searched frantically for a weapon but only closed around her picture of Michael. She wouldn't go down without a fight, she'd use all of her resources. Maria felt herself being shifted backwards and clutched tighter at the picture, but the person kept shoving. Suddenly she wasn't in charge of her own body anymore, she was a passenger while Qaelia was driving. Maria heard herself speaking as if through a haze, her voice was different. It was amazing, more mellifluous sounding, soothing like water running in a creek bed and it vaguely reminded Maria of the sound of church bells ringing. "Fonbar."

He stopped pushing, and merely held her down onto the bed. It was an odd picture, a stalemate of sorts with the person on bottom really in charge of the situation. "Q, is it really you?"

She managed to gracefully nod, Maria envied her past self for the type of natural grace that could allow her to serenely nod while pinned to a bed. She felt herself swirling closer to Qaelia merging their minds into one. "It is. Whatever griefs you have with me leave Maria out of them. She doesn't deserve to have her life clouded because of my mistakes."

Maria whole-heartedly agreed. "Then you shouldn't have lived again with him. So you finally admit he was a mistake."

He was melting, she could feel it. He was putty in her hands but Qaelia was like Maria and wouldn't take the easy way out. "No, he was never a mistake. I lived again to be with him, to have the life we never had the chance to live. I asked the Gods to keep my memories from her because he hated destiny and prophecies, this was our chance to see if we were really meant without anything to guide us."

Her smile was beatific, pure bliss. "We were, "The course of true love never did run smooth.":

He looked at her, she'd lost her chance. He was still wistful though, "Why him? Why not me? I loved you Q, I would have done anything for you yet you betrayed the church for him and not be."

Maria could feel her annoyance, he needed to move on. It wasn't going to happen. "Some things have no explanation, Rath and I understood each other like nobody else could. Why would you betray the Royal Four and me and work with Kivar?"

He was angry now, he wasn't going to play her game. He sneered at her before answering, scorn filling his voice. "You fought all the time. Half time you two could barely stand to be in the same room as one another. Don't forget the night he almost killed you. You want to know why I'm working with Kivar? Look in a mirror, my Siren. I told you after I found out that I'd never follow your lover besides Kivar came to me after Maria got stabbed and told me I could see you again if I worked for him. Who was I to pass up the king's generous offer?"

An emotion passed through Maria, Qaelia, them at the mention of Rah almost killing them. It was hard to describe or understand, it was a little bit regret, a little bit fear, a little bit of longing and a lot of love thrown in. Maria wasn't sure what to make of it. Scorn followed at the mention of not following Rath a stray thought crossing the fragile barrier that separated her past from her present 'To go against Rath is death, betrayal. To follow Kivar is the end of all beginnings.' Anger swelled and took over at the mention of Kivar being king.

"Go back to your so called king, Kivar, and take a message for me. The General didn't take kindly to having his family slaughtered in an underhand way and he's had a long time to dwell on it. Also drop that if he doesn't leave this life alone I'll let Rath have his way before damning soul to the everlasting abyss."

Maria wasn't sure who the idea or words came from, but both their angers burned bright and she got a flash of eternal pain and suffering; much worse than any human idea of hell. She watched impassively as his face lost all color and he visibly gulped. He was terrified, that much was clear. Whether it was of Rath or the everlasting abyss or both she wasn't sure.

Abruptly he hardened again, regaining his control and the truce broke. She felt hands roughly grabbing her and it felt eerily familiar. Familiar in the sense that history was repeating itself. Maria felt the barrier between her past and present break as they fully merged.

She wasn't on her bed struggling against Victor with a fill moon shining through the window anymore. She was in some sort of dungeon. The only light came from a tiny window extremely high up. The type of window that was put there for mental torture; too high up to reach but the prisoner would try and plan futilely. If they miraculously made it that far they would only discover it was too small to fit a body through. It was there to taunt her and taunt her soul it did. She could see the Three Sisters through it, they were all nearing their zenith. It was a rare occurrence when all shone together in all their glory; the last occurrence was centuries past.

She looked around the dungeon again but found her eyes compelled back to the Three Sisters. A cold shiver of premonition ran down her spine. When the Sisters release their full power 3 nights hence Antar would never be the same again. It was the most powerful night on Antar, when the boundaries between the living and dead were at their weakest and the night where the divisions between mortals and immortals disappeared. Gods walked the land in all their eminence. The Three Sisters wouldn't let the chance pass to finish and old grudge and make him suffer. She knew in her heart of hearts in that moment that Rath wouldn't live past that night and whether the kingdom would survive his loss and their wrath was questionable. She knew she wouldn't be able to survive his loss though duty would bind her soul, keeping her on Antar so it couldn't follow his. Her fingers brushed his dogtags that he'd removed the month before. He'd abandoned his duty to marriage with Vilandra. His words floated around her head "Sometimes we have to sacrifice who we are for something that is greater than duty, something that will outlast us. I found something that's bigger than life, that duty can't touch, I'll take my chances on you."

She stroked the dogtags, he'd taken a step he'd always sworn he wouldn't take. He'd taken off the dogtags he worked years for, he was walking a road he couldn't return from. Her other fingers reached up and brushed the circlet on her head, coming to a decision.

Sometimes to really live you have to die.

She took the circlet off, staring at the glistening fiery white stone, it flashed in a final warning, a final goodbye. She tossed it across the dungeon, listening as it clinked and skidded across the floor.

She had just abandoned her Gods.

She waited for the lightening, the fire and brimstone to come. It never did. She wondered if perhaps they understood, if they cared. Her mind was empty but her heart was curiously light, for better or for worse she had veered off the path laid out for her. For better or worse she had taken the hand of a long ago cursed hero. For better or worse she was happy.

She had no idea how long she'd been sitting there before Nykot stomped over to her roughly slamming her head against the wall. Her fingers tightened against his dogtags. He squatted down next to her, "Let's chat shall we?"

A soldier moved to untie her gag but stopped at Nykot's command "Don't do that. Are you stupid? Wait don't answer that, if you untie her she'll use her voice to charm her way out."

He returned his attention to her. "You could have avoided all this you know. You should have known better than to take sides in a war, your voice is losing us a lot of support. All over the Commander too. Don't look so shocked, child. I know all about the two of you."

He laughed and reached out to stroke her cheek, "Curious about how? Your secret wasn't as well kept as you'd have liked. Vilandra found out and came scampering to me with Rath's betrayal of the Gods. I was rather surprised that he was so stupid as to let the ice melt for a Chosen, and a child no less. No wonder they cursed him. Vilandra's been very helpful with information, I'm rather fond of her, you know. She's quite a little pet."

As if realizing he was off topic he regained his business command voice but kept the scorn. "Forbidden love, how very noble of you. I suppose your dying to play the part of the sacrificial lamb. ….. Don't worry I'll help you with that. Nobody's ever said I wasn't helpful, I'll even be nice and let you rot together. Oh, it won't be pleasant, quite painful actually, but in the name of love what's death to stand in your way?"

He studied her features carefully for any signs of weakness or fear. He paused then continued on, "I bet your eager to know. Let me tell you how this will work. I'll slice you to pieces, fatally wound you. But we both know flesh wounds can be healed, specifically by the Granolith. You wouldn't happen to know its location by the way? ….Pity. I don't keep secrets from you now do I? Anyway I'll also give you (he held up a bottle) this Ssika Letum, a slow acting painful, irreversible poison. He'll think he's saved you then WHAM! Your death by poison will shatter him. Beautiful plan isn't it? I'm quite proud, you my lamb, will break your lover and bring about the fall of the reign of Zan. All of course on the Zenith, the power will give us the strength to overcome the dynasty especially without Rath there vigilantly guarding it."

She was horrified, she was ending the peace of her planet. He must have noticed her expression because he laughed and said, "How does it feel, Sire, to know you'll be singularly responsible for his death, and everyone in the palace? You'll go down as Siren of Antar, betrayer of the Gods and bringer of Death."

His laughter echoed around the room as he picked up the knife and advanced on her. Her eyes drifted to the moon as her tears of blood began to fall.

………………………


	13. Chapter 9B

Author's note: Ok here is the second half to the part posted last night. and now the thank yous. My heart goes out to Niffer01, Magali, CandylovinFehrian, keirah, higherbeingfriendsfan. Ya'll are too good and make my week.

Part 9B

She was back n Earth, on the floor of her human bedroom all alone in her head with dust floating around her. Dazed she looked up to see Michael and Nacedo with outstretched hands standing above her. She looked around in confusion, wasn't she on the bed before with Victor attacking her? How did she end up on the floor with her robe gaping open.

Immediately Michael was on the floor by her side touching her; running his hands all over to check for injuries. Maria looked at him, the hardened look in his eyes hadn't completely faded away from before. His fingers brushed the blood from her lips and a tortured look crossed his face. The look of failure and disappointment in himself. Maria could feel her heart shattering just looking at him.

"You saved me." She made it a statement in a vain hopes that he wouldn't contest it. No such luck.

"Barely, I should have come sooner."

Nacedo sensing the tension spoke up. "The premises is secure. Do you ant me to heal you?"

Her reaction was immediate, she shivered at the thought. "No! I mean it's not that bad and I don't want anyone else in my head right now or touching me."

Michael wasn't happy with her choice. His voice began to take on a warning tone. "Maria."

She cut him off. "No, Michael. It's my choice, and I want to heal in my normal human way. You can't fix everything by waving a magic green hand. Now tell me what happened."

He knew she was changing the subject and so badly wanted to argue. He looked as though he was about to continue arguing with her but with one fiery green look he reconsidered. He could change her mind later. "I was coming over to stand watch and make sure you and your mom were safe. Nacedo got here at the same time and your front door was open. We were wary then I heard you yell my name. We ran to your room and he hand you on the bed."

His voice was so low from anger it was almost all vibrations. The lamp next to Maria's bed began to shake in response to his anger. "He was on top of you taking about how he is the better choice. You were just lying there, staring at the ceiling. You didn't even respond when I yelled your name. I thought we were too late. I thought you were…"

He couldn't finish the sentence as if realizing what he'd said was too deep, too raw and too close to his emotions. He got himself under control before daring to continue. "We blasted him and the thing is I don't feel bad. I wanted him dead, I couldn't think of anything else. My mind saw him as a threat and eliminated it. It was cost as though someone else had reached through me and killed him."

"Rath."

Both Maria and Michael looked over to see who had spoken, having forgotten Nacedo's presence in the room. Maria still looked particularly confused so Nacedo took it upon himself to clarify.

"That someone else you felt was Rath. He's waking, his memories, feelings and skills are coming back to you. His instincts will override yours sometimes like then. Rath never took kindly to people threatening her, even before they were involved."

Michael scratched his eyebrow, he could relate. "So he's going to take me over? Great something else to look forward to.'

"No, you're basically the same person. There will just be moments especially when something or someone from your past life is concerned where his consciousness will kick in. They'll be rare though because of your design."

Maria stood up. "That happened to me today, she took me over. But what does the last part mean?"

Nacedo gave her a cold, calculating look as if assessing her words and the problems it would cause him. "Let me put it this way, on Antar the Royal Four made a lot of mistakes near the end and it caused a lot of death, it still is. The resistance effort wasn't about to just give them new bodies to screw it up again, so they missed their DNA with humans in hopes that the Royal Four would be smarter this time around. They weren't counting on you showing up though, it'll probably happen a lot more often to you. You don't have that design, and she never was one to sit quietly in a corner."

There wasn't really anything to say to that. Maria looked at them for a moment before grabbing some clothes out of the dresser. "I'm going to change."

"Not alone your not. I'm not letting you out of my sight, you cause too much trouble. What were you doing alone in the first place? We, as a group mind you, decided that nobody is ever alone. Damnit, Maria. What makes you think you can go off and disregard those rules. What if we hadn't come? Do you want to die?"

His reaction had been immediate, without any thought. Her words had been the last straw and he just exploded all of his angers and fears rushing out.

"Stop it, Michael." Her voice was low as if daring him to contest it.

He ignored her, he was already too worked up about it. He was angry with her for getting so stupid but really he was angrier with himself for not protecting her. "What were you thinking? God with Vicky too/ I told you he was trouble and to stay away. I specifically warned you about him and you go behind my back with him. Was it to spite me? Get even over Courtney or maybe you really are just that slow."

She hit a breaking point.

"I said stop it. God, Michael you sound like Max. This is so like you, rushing in and jumping to conclusions. You have no right to do that and no idea what happened. I screamed for you, I screamed and screamed. Where were you? Huh, were you with her when he was slamming me against the wall? ….. I screamed and you never came."

She was in tears, big angry loud tears. She was on the verge of an emotional breakdown and abandonment. Wet hair clung to her flushed face and she angrily pushed it out of her eyes while she screamed at him. Now that the situation was over the magnitude of what almost happened and what did happen were finally hitting her. She couldn't keep it at bay by coddling Michael anymore. Maria couldn't deal with it, didn't want to. She wanted to shove it to the back of her mind and forget about the bruises and flashes it evoked but she couldn't, she had to deal with it.

He'd screwed up big time and he knew it. Watching the tears roll down her cheeks he understood he'd gone too far and that his chances of fixing it were much lower than usual. He stepped closer to her reaching out; offering comfort the only way he knew how. He could have tried words but words were what caused their problems. Words were insecure, untrue; words with them were always said in anger, disbelief or in the heat of the moment. Actions and silent connections were what held them together, what brought them back from their problems time and time again.

His hand touched her shoulder and she flinched away as if he'd hit her. Her words were reactionary. "Don't. Don't touch me, I can't take you touching me now."

He felt the knife shed stuck in his heart earlier, with the comments about Courtney and him not protecting her, turn. Yeah, the knife had just done a full 360. He stepped back as if he'd been burned, pulling the hand she'd shied from to his chest as if cradling it would heal his heart and alleviate the guilt of letting her get hurt.

She was in a similar position. She clutched her picture tighter needing something to remind her that deep down when nobody was around he'd show he cared. The tears were slowing as she managed to push everything behind a wall and seal it up, effectively turning off her emotions. She couldn't afford to consumed right now.

Nacedo watched the two teenagers fight with anger, frustration, insecurities and guilt causing them to lash out right and left aiming to wound. It was hard to reconcile these two broken teens with the once great beings they had been. But then again in the end she had still just been a little girl and he had just been a young man trying to lead. They were hurting each other on purpose, love and hate are merely two sides of the same coin. They had been like this the last time too. He supposed some people were bound together by gentle silver cords tying their souls into one and other while Michael and Maria were bound by flame and lightening. Fires that burn both in passion and hatred.

He watched as she rebuffed Michael's overture at reconciliation. They had so much to learn, it made him almost happy that he had no human DNA to experience the emotional excesses they experienced. On Antar he'd never particularly like or disliked the Siren because he wasn't very religious, but he did respect her. Nobody else made Rath react the way she did, she brought him to life. Now to see Maria shutting down her emotions, like Rath had done for so many years it was monstrous. It was wrong to see the cold empty expression on the vibrant girl's face, he supposed that Q must have learned the trick from Rath somewhere along the line.

Sensing it was time for him to step in he spoke. "you can tell us what happened now or I can take you both back to Michael's. Your staying the duration of the night there for safety purposes."

Her eyes never left Michael's face and her voice was cold, disspassionate, as though it was somebody else talking. "I got out of the shower when I heard the doorbell. I assumed it was Liz or Alex because we had plans so I threw on my robe and went to answer it. It was Victor, coming to tell me about a pop-quiz in English. He managed to worm his way in before I slammed the door shut, he told me I was beautiful and I started to get suspicious and tried to slip away. He used Rath's legend to distract me so that he could sneak up to me. He kissed me and I attempted to distract him and get away, it didn't work. He drug me down the hallway and I was screaming for Michael and for Rath. He threw me on the bed and that's when Qaelia decided to come out and play. She talked to him and he almost let us go but then she told him he would never be better than Rath. After that I don't remember what happened, I got swept into her memories of a horrible night."

Nacedo was curious the tone of her voice hinted at the importance of the memory, but now wasn't the time. "Did he say his name?"

"No but Q did, Fonbar."

"Odd. I wonder why he's here. He was always sort of a vigilante, never loyal to anyone after he abandoned Rath. What could have driven him to Kivar."

She was silent. That wasn't his information to know. Another thought occurred to her. "There was a note from my mother, about why she was gone. I want to make sure it's real and she's ok."

Nacedo nodded, "I'll take care of it. What's her cell number."

"555-7381"

Michael quitely watched the whole exchange and as Nacedo walked over to the corner to make the call after scanning the note. Maria looked different, colder. He wanted to reach out and touch her to assure himself that it was really her but the memory of her rebuff was still to bright and painful. Nacedo came back over, "She's fine. Now I'll take you both over to Michael's apartment and then I'll clean up here and check on everyone else."

He didn't get a verbal response but both went to the car willingly.

……………………………….

Amy Deluca was sitting in her hotel room counting T-shirts when her phone rang. Assuming it was her daughter she fumbled around before finally managing to answer it. "Hello."

It was a man's voice, one that she didn't recognize. "Is this Amy DeLuca?"

Worry started to form a hard knot in her stomach. "Yes. Who's this?"

He ignored her question. "Are you in Tucson, Ms. DeLuca?"

"Yes, Why?"

The voice replied smoothly. "I'm from the phone company, we're just checking your phone's GPS system. Thank you for your time. Click" The like was dead.

Her eyes narrowed, the man had been lying. Amy was a lot of things but stupid wasn't one of them. She'd watched too many horror movies to know that they called to see if you were home before breaking into your house, and that they always used the excuse they were from the phone company. She'd had a horrible feeling all night in her stomach, she'd tried passing it off as food posioning but now was positive that it was mother's intuition. Something had happened to Maria and that it had to do with whatever had been wrong with her lately. She wasn't blind, she knew something big had happened with her daughter recently and that it had brought her back into contact with Michael.

Making a decision she grabbed her purse and box of t-shirts, she was going back to Roswell.

…………………………….

Liz, Alex and Kyle were sitting in a booth in the back of the Crashdown happily ( in most cases) eating breakfast. Alex looked at Liz over his 'Out of this World eggs' she looked preoccupied. "What's on your mind, chica?"

She pushed her hair behind her ears. "Nothing."

Kyle piped up over his mountain of food. "Come on, Buddha is listening."

Alex looked at him askance, "Kyle you're not Buddha."

"I know, don't be so literal. Anyway you guys need to be more accepting and less prejudiced. You can accept aliens without skipping a jump but have a hard time with my new religion."

Liz looked at him like he was crazy. "Kyle you sit around spewing quotes from a dead fat guy that make no sense. Buddha would probably be disgraced to have you as a follower. But if it will shut you up I've just been thinking about Maria and this whole past life thing."

Kyle looked at Alex as if to say he'd gotten her to talk. Then he turned his gaze onto Liz. "Feeling as though your and Max's soulmate, meant to be romance isn't so meant to be anymore compared to Michael and Maria's? I don't blame you, who woulda thought those two had some intergalatic past." He paused. "Though then again with all the sparks they were shooting off during the Heat Wave something must have been burning for a long time."

Liz looked at him, "I didn't know you knew about them during the heat wave. We weren't exactly on good terms back then."

Kyle shrugged as she shoveled an entire egg into his mouth. "Saw Guerin dragging her into the Eraser Room. Figured some face sucking had to be going on."

Alex laughed. "Yeah, they were pretty bad. We were always walking in on them, everywhere. You couldn't go into Michael's apartment without seeing something happening."

"Go Guerin!"

The guys laughed then seeing the look on Liz's face, quickly sobered. Alex reached out and gave her hand a squeeze, "Just because Maria and Michael have a past doesn't make your and Max's relationship any less than what it was. Besides wasn't Max supposedly supposed to be looking for his true love. You just weren't there yet."

She wasn't appeased. "But what about destiny? I've fought so long against this… that it just seems like destiny is how it should be."

Kyle looked at her. "Destiny got them killed. Tess has totally abandoned it, she's gone wild with joy over not having to mate Max. Don't say I blame her, I've always preferred blondes myself."

Alex's response was alittle more serious and poetic. '"It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in our selves.' Listen to Bill Shakespeare, the guy knew what he was talking about. Let it go and live alittle."

Liz smiled and finally began to eat with a clear mind. She laughed as she heard Kyle and Alex go back to debating the clue finding merits of Scooby versus Shaggy.

…………………………

"Thanks Nancy, it was nice talking to you too."

Amy put the phone back into the cradle. So Maria hadn't spent the night at Liz's. That only left one place left. Michael's.

She'd come home to an empty house with no Maria. Her house looked as though everything had been put back into it's place, but not exactly where it had been. She'd immediately called the sheriff who'd told her not to worry and to call all of Maria's friends that she was probably with one of them. Amy also knew he couldn't officially do anything until it had been several hours.

She sighed, making up her mind. She grabbed her keys and headed over to Michael's wondering what she would find. She just hoped they weren't having sex. Oh she knew he was a good boy who was desperately in love with her daughter and who for some unknown reason had broken up with her. She also knew that he was often at her house in the wee hours of the morning outside her daughters window. Yes, Amy knew all about that and while she didn't exactly approve of his peeping tom ways she let it be because she'd seen how he looked at her daughter.. She'd found out by accident one night, she'd been sitting in the living drinking tea because she could't sleep and gone to the window to see the stars. Instead she saw a dark figure outside of Maria's window. About ready to go out there and beat him to death she recognized it as Michael and watched him watching Maria for a very long time over the next several nights. He looked at Maria in a way that a man had never looked at Amy in her life and she wasn't about to take that away from them, so she let it be and never mentioned it.

Walking up to the door she thought about knocking then decided against it, it would give Maria (or Michael) time to hide. She gingerly put her hand on the doorknob surprised to find it turned easily in her hand. Raising an eyebrow at his lack of security she opened the door quietly and went in.

Nobody was in the front part of the apartment. Amy looked around in distaste, the boy needed to learn what bleach was and clean his home. Walking quietly she tiptoed towards the bedroom terrified of what she would find beyond the door. She peaked her head in to be greeted with a scene she never would have guessed she'd see. A picture she'd never wanted to.

Maria was curled up in an old t-shirt of Michael's on the bed. Michael was leaning up against the wall, like a sentry keeping watch. He was staring at her daughter in the same way he'd stared at her so many nights outside her window. Love, loning, need and stubborness all mixed in. But most of all regret colored his features. He looked up when she came in but didn't say anything or move.

She moved closer to the bed to arrange the covers around Maria, her motherly instincts kicking in. She got to the edge of the bed and the light shining in from the streetlight made her stop short. There were bruises on her daughter. Big, ugly bruises and a split lip on her little angel.

Anger coursed through her, this wasn't acceptable. Her eyes looked up and met Michael's resigned ones. "Michael, front room. NOW."

She left no room for argument and walked out expecting, knowing, that he would follow. She was a DeLuca woman after all. Her fingers were already dialing the sheriff's number. Nobody beat her daughter and got away with it. She was stalking around the room after telling Jim to get over to Michael's apartment she had hung up. She turned to face him when he finally came in the room.

"I didn't do it."

He was defensive already, he didn't want to be killed for something that wasn't entirely his fault. Amy looked at him with that piercing stare. Finally she relented but her voice still had that frantic threatening gleam that said she wasn't entirely sane. "I know that. No young man who watches my daughter sleep every night would lay a hand on her."

He started at that. He had no idea she'd known. Now he was slightly embarrassed and scratched his eyebrow. Good. She continued on. "Neither would a boy who was abused growing up, yes I know about that too. Now since we both know you know how it feels. You'll tell me who did so I can kill them."

He paused, seeming to consider his choice of words. In reality his heart was pounding, "I already took care of them."

That didn't pacify her. Before she could go on and castrate him the door burst open revealing sheriff Valenti. "You called?"

She turned her impatient glare onto him. "Somebody beat my daughter and I want answers and justice."

His eyes slid past her to Michael. "I know it's not him."

The Sheriff was flummoxed, "Oh. Okay. We'll find out who did this."

"I want to know NOW. Now as in this very instant, and this little ruffian is going to tell me since he supposedly already took care of it."

She had Michael by the ear and was shaking him. It seemed he couldn't get by an encounter with Amy DeLuca with his whole body intact. Before anybody could do anything else Maria showed up in the doorway to Michael's bedroom. "Mom?"

She looked terrible, her bed head hair somehow made it all worse. She had a shiner on one eye, a split lip and a huge purple bruise on one cheek. And that was just her face. Michael's tshirt did a lot to cover her up but could't fully hide the mess that had once been her pale skin. Her mother and the sheriff gasped while Michael just hid his face in his hands. Her mother rushed over to her, "Oh, baby. My baby, what happened?"

She tensed up in her mother's embrace, she didn't want to be hugged and she definitely didn't want to tal about it. Her eyes went from Michael to the Sheriff, silently letting him know it was alien related. She managed to shrug her well meaning mother off, "I don't want to talk about it."

Amy wasn't budging. "Wrong. Try again."

Maria almost laughed at her mother. She was so odd, but Maria also knew that she was exactly the same way. Sighing she shouldered her way past her mom and plopped down to the couch. Time to think of a lie and actually make it look believable. Her fingers picked at the worn fabric of Michael's couch as she talked, "I was at home and the door rang. I went to answer it and it was some creepy guy that I didn't recognize. I think he was an out of towner, anyways he started hitting on me and I tried to shut the door but he was too strong. We ended up fighting then Michael showed up and got him off of me and he just dissapeared."

Michael was silent while she talked, resisting the urge to roll his eyes when she said out of towner. He figured Maria was smart, lie as little as possible, keep some of the truth in because then its hard for the human lie detector to detect the lie.

"Wrong. Try again. I don't buy that Maria."

"Mom its true! Ask Michael. Besides why would I lie?"

Her mother considered her words for a minute. "I don't know, but you've been different lately. But in the event your not lying, Sheriff I want this outsider found."

Valenti looked relieved that was his only command, "Yes Ma'am."

She whirled on Michael. He had a terrified look on his face as if she was going to kill him. She swooped down on him pinching both his cheeks. "My little hero. You saved my little Maria. I don't want you staying at home with all of these criminals on the loose. You'll be staying with me and Maria for the next few days." She paused. "On the couch."

He was to happy to have his life to bother to refuse. It would help him protect Maria.

Maria wasn't so happy with her new arrangements. "Mom! Michael has other things to do at night than babysit us."

"You mean stare at you? He can do that just fine from the couch."

Maria gave her an odd look. "You knew and you didn't tell me? I just found out."

Amy shrugged. "Not my secret to tell. But you sir, will have to start fessing up to your secrets. I know your different. I'm not blind you know."

Michael looked terrified and considered bolting. "Mrs.DeLuca"

She cut him off. "No, Michael. It involves my daughter. Your going to tell me."

He looked at her for a long time, then he looked at the Sheriff. "I'll tell you tonight after school."

She nodded. "I'll hold you to that."

………………

Maria and Kyle were walking down the hallways in school. Kyle was there to flex his muscles and get people to stop staring, and to distract her. "So what's going on between you and the lone wolf?"

Her voice was distracted. "Lone wolf, Kyle?"

"Michael. Buddha says each of us embody the spirit of an animal. I believe Michael embodies the lone wolf. He's a loner, bad grooming habits, territorial, soldiery."

She leaned closer to whisper in his ear. "I think Buddha was referring to humans when he said that, Kyle."

He shrugged. "Perhaps, but he's still a lone wolf."

Maria laughed, she could always count on Kyle. They reached their classroom for English. She wondered if anyone would mention Victor's absence. Walking into the room she stopped short.

There was Victor happily chatting away to a cheerleader. He turned to her and winked.

…………………………………..


	14. Chapter 10

Author's note: Loved, Loved, Loved all the lovely reviews and the lovely reviews.. Sunshine goes out to keirah, mag, candylovinfehrian, niffer01, higherbeingfriendsfan. Hoorah. Ok next part, enough of me talking.

Collision Part 10 "Taking and Breaking"

_ Taking and breaking and hating  
I remember all you said to me now  
Faking, forsaking and failing  
my memories are all stained again_  
Seether- Needles

Maria blinked, but Victor was still there, he wasn't just a figment of her imagination. She wanted to look to Kyle for conformation but she was frozen in the doorway, frozen in a nightmare of a moment. Deep breaths, she tried taking them, it wasn't helping. She wished for cypress oil to calm her nerves but couldn't seem to make her fingers dig around her purse. Insanely she wished Kyle was Alex or Liz because then he would have already had it dug out and under her nose. But no, she couldn't blame Kyle for being Kyle. She could hear his angry breathing beside her waiting for her to make her move. Her distraction of thinking about Kyle suddenly shattered. She watched as Victor reached out and touched the girl's arm he was talking with; reached out with the same hands he'd held her down with as he beat her the night before.

She felt bile rise in her throat, she suddenly felt very trapped, closed in. She also knew in that moment that she was about to lose her nonexistent breakfast.

She bolted.

Snippets of the conversations drifted after her, "What's up with DeLuca?" "Man, did you see her face, I'll bet Guerin beat up on her." "Yeah, Guerin totally is the type." "She looked right at you Victor before she ran off."

Maria looked around at all the people in the hallway; they were all blurry faces staring at her and spinning round and round. She felt her heart beating faster and faster, it as all too much. She couldn't get his winking face out of her mind; it was superimposed over everything. Gasping for breath she staggered into the nearest restroom before losing her lunch. She barely made it to a toilet before she retched and retched. Finally the spasms in her stomach subsided and she shakily got to her feet. She slowly balanced waiting for the dizziness that accompanied standing up to pass. She began the journey across the restroom with the sole focus of getting to cool water to wash her face. Once she made it to the counter and splashed some cold water on her face, only then did Maria look around. There were urinals in the corner.

She groaned.

This wasn't a girl's bathroom and she wasn't alone. She sighed in frustration as Paulie, whose only claim to fame was being one of Kyle's football goons, stared at her. He didn't seem particularly disturbed at her appearance so she glanced into the mirror. Not pretty, briefly she wondered if he had been smoking something, but dismissed it just as quickly. He was in football, drug tests and all.

"You OK there, Maria?"

She managed a small smile, "Yeah, Paulie. I'm doing fabulous."

Her sarcasm wasn't entirely lost on him. "Want me to beat up Guerin for you?"

She was annoyed, why did everyone assume it was Michael who smacked her around? "Like you beat up Max!"

He just shrugged. She rolled her eyes but spoke up again. " No. It wasn't Michael, I hate how everyone jumps to conclusions."

He stopped fixing his hair for a moment to look at her. "Because were not blind. We've all seen the way he drags you around and everyone knows how his trailer trash foster dad, who mysteriously disappeared, used to smack him around. It's only natural he grew up to do it to you."

She was pissed, she'd always thought that was a secret. "Yeah, well Michael's not like that!"

He turned and sat down on the counter. He made himself comfortable and patted the spot next to him. Maria wasn't quite ready to face the world just yet so she took the seat, being sure to leave a lot of space between them.

"Maybe not, but I'll still happily injure him at your command. After all we've never gotten along."

This time she almost smiled, he was referring to a well-documented event that went down in Roswell Elementary history between Michael and Paulie. It was the day Michael discovered water balloons.

"How long ago was that anyway?" She had laughter in her voice.

His answer was immediate, no hesitation. "First day of fourth grade."

She laughed, this time a real smile escaping. No wonder he hadn't forgiven Michael.

"SO wanna tell me who gave your pretty self that ugly shiner if it wasn't Guerin? We both know Whitman and Evans can't punch like that."

She noticed how he didn't even include Kyle. "Nobody. I fell down the stairs." She wasn't even looking at him; she was staring off into space. He reached out to touch her in comfort and to bring her out of whatever little reverie she had gone into. She flinched away so bad her elbow slammed against the mirror behind her and her back ended up pressed firmly against the sidewall several feet away. He raised his hands in an image of surrender. He was quiet for a moment before he spoke again.

"Nobody doesn't cause tough chicks like you to react like that Maria. I had and ex-girlfriend, who used to be slapped around a lot by her dad, she didn't react like that to being touched. Whatever he did, whatever happened I suggest you work it out before it consumes you and ruins your life. Don't become fear's prisoner."

He was silent for a moment then on a lighter note he added, "Besides I live down the street, we both know your house doesn't have stairs."

Paulie hopped down off the counter and gave her one final look. "You're Hurricane DeLuca, never forget that. Now, I'm going to go out and cause a nice big distraction so you can slip out of the boy's restroom unnoticed."

Maria was amazed she'd never really known much about Paulie, he was just one of those guys in the periphery. He turned to leave but her voice stopped him, "Thanks Paulie, you not half as bad as Kyle makes you sound."

He flashed her a grin over his shoulder, "Neither are you. Besides we both know Kyle is a Buddhist spouting freak."

Then he was gone. She smiled as she heard the commotion in the hallway, sometimes help came form unexpected places.

……………………

Isabel was walking down the hallway, flanked by lesser members of West Roswell social elite. She had her best ice princess look on her face, remembering his words "You loved how their eyes followed you, worshipped you. Craved it so much you tried to recreate the sensation here but ruling a high school just doesn't compare now does it?"

Those words had haunted her, haunted her dreams and her waking hours. She missed that feeling she used to get when standing over crowds of Antar. The only problem was she couldn't remember what it was exactly that she missed so desperately about it so she went on, trying to recreate something in her sad little high school in her sad little town. He was right, and Isabel had the overwhelming feeling that he was almost always right. Her eyes scanned the crowd for the millionth time, always searching for him. It seemed like since he'd awoken that memory in her. She'd been looking for him everywhere she turned. She searched in every face for a flash of familiarity, searched around every corner, even following shadows that weren't really there. She craved him, at least she thought it was him she craved, but she wasn't totally sure. She knew he'd, whoever he was, had been watching her, testing her. The worst part was, she didn't care, she needed that feeling again. Craved that confidence and security, craved that feeling of absolute beauty of being the only person to exist to someone else. Craved it so bad she walked like a princess, keeping everyone else at bay until her knight could come unlock the gates which held her heart so closed. Gates she doesn't know why she's erected.

JINKIES!

Aha, a flash of spiky brown hair. Though she detested that she just thought jinkies, she'd definitely been seeing too much of Alex and Kyle lately. She slipped around the corner knowing that this time she wouldn't find an empty hallway filled only with whispers.

Nobody. She sighed, but then a flash of movement caught her eye. The lab storage room door was closing. Smiling softly she walked over and slipped in. He had his back to her, examining some sort of frog in a jar suspended in formaldehyde. He picked it turning around to face her while peering into the jar with a disgusted look on his face. She couldn't wait any longer. "Where have you been!"

Taking his time he set the jar down, "What about you, my princess. You don't call you don't write…"

"I've been looking for you everywhere."

"I had business to attend to." His voice was rather icy.

"Oh." Now that he was in front of her she wasn't quite sure what she wanted to do. What answers she wanted to hear. So she settled with a little white lie.

"I missed you, Nicholas."

He laughed. "Let's be honest now, did you miss me or the answers I gave you?"

Isabel wasn't expecting that. But she would play his game. "Both."

He smiled. "You always were playing two sides of the game, my dear."

Isabel wasn't sure what to make of that. What on earth could he mean. "Meaning.."

"Politics and your personal life. You were engaged to Rath, you know. But you also had a great love."

"Kivar." She whispered.

"So you remember. How much do you remember?"

She shrugged. "Not very much, he and I were together and I was telling him about Rath's lover. Then I think you showed up, and he talked to us about loyalty?"

Isabel left it as a question, hoping he would answer it.

His smile was wistful, "I'd wondered if you would remember me. Let me correct my earlier statement. You had two great loves. Me and Kivar."

Isabel tried to process this information, was it possible to be in love with two people at once? Somewhere in her mind she heard a whispered yes. She had loved them both, caught in a world where prophecies were lived and betrayal ran rampant. What a fool she had been.

Settling for what she knew she finally spoke cautiously, "It seemed like you worked for him."

"I did."

She paused, lost in thought about the problems it must have caused. He went back to examining the shelves. Finally, after eons he turned back to her. Walking over he reached out to brush the hair from her face. "It's time to remember, my princess."

Vilandra was standing on a balcony, wind whipping around her watching the sunrise. "You have to go." His voice was soft as he slipped his arms around her from behind.

She sighed, dread filling her at returning to the palace. "I don't want to."

He slowly turned her around. "I know, my princess. I know."

"We'll have other nights, won't we?"

He smiled gently, "And stolen moments too."

The secrecy of their situation hit her anew, why did she have to be bound to Rath. If only she could chose who to be with, though that really wouldn't be easier between him and Kivar. At least she wouldn't have to spend the rest of her days mothering Rath and sneaking off. She closed her eyes in pain. "Don't joke, Nkyot. Please not now, not when we still have a few more moments."

He didn't apologize in the regular way. His fingers reached out, tracing the bruise on her cheek lightly. "Let me fix that for you."

It was barely a murmur, followed by a sensation of warmth. She tingled all over from the gentle physical contact, she reveled in their bond. One that she had with no one else. Laying her head against his shoulder she needed someone to blame. "I hate Rath."

His laughter vibrated through her. "No, you don't. It's not even his fault."

She was getting petulant. "Fine then. I hate the prophecies."

His laughter stilled. "You don't know?"

"Know what?" She looked up, feeling hope for the first time in what seemed like forever since it all began.

"The prophecies were voided by one of the Chosen. The Siren, you know the little girl, waltzed right into one of our council meetings and delivered her message. The prophecies about the Royal Four had been misinterpreted."

Anger boiled up in her. Fury shot through her veins, burning them. "What? Why didn't anyone tell me? So I don't have to marry Rath!"

His smile was sad. "You're still engaged. Zan overruled the girl, and now has Rath watching her to make sure she doesn't let lose her message. He claims it would wreak havoc on Antar and destroy the people because they are all depending on the match."

She was even madder, angrier than she'd ever been. "My brother is an idiot. And Rath is ... Why would he follow Zan when it's his happiness, our happiness at stake."

He shrugged, pulling her towards the bedroom once again. "Don't think about that now."

Her voice was soft, barely above a whisper. "I don't forgive betrayal."

Isabel was back in the present. The old anger still burning in her veins. "They didn't tell me! I can't believe they didn't tell me. We don't keep secrets. It's one of the rules."

She was applying the rules they had this lifetime to a lifetime where no such rules existed but in her anger that didn't matter. His voice was sympathetic. "I know, it kept us apart."

Before she could respond, the door flew open revealing a teacher. "What are you doing in here, Miss Evans?"

Thinking fast she covered, "I'm tutoring a freshman, sir. Explaining anatomy using examples."

He slowly nodded, "Well your about to be late to class, young lady. Come along."

She was ushered out, not wanting to leave.

…………………………….

Maria walked out of the bathroom to see people pouring out classrooms and a loud ringing noise all around. Immediately once she was out Kyle disengaged himself from the wall next to the entrance to the boy's bathroom. At her questioning glance he shrugged, "Keeping anyone from disturbing you. I figured I'd be of more help doing that. I didn't realize Paulie was already in there."

She shrugged in return, "He's not half as bad as you'd like us to think. What'd he do anyway, he said something about a distraction."

Kyle grinned and motioned for her to walk. "He's not half as bad as he'd like the world to think. He pulled the fire alarm, works every time. Anyway how are you, sis? You looked pretty bad."

Maria was feeling more and more herself every second she spent in Kyle's company. He was a salving balm over the wound Victor had caused, and a wonderful distraction to help her forget she'd just seen the presumed dead Victor. "A lot better. Where did sis come from? As far as I'm concerned we're not quite on sibling terms.."

He grimaced but followed her switch in topics with good graces. "Yeah, well hope it stays that way. Our folks were eating breakfast at the Crashdown this morning when Liz, Alex and I were there."

She groaned in response and he shot her an evil grin as they continued to follow the crowd outside. "That's not the best part. They made plans for tonight."

That, oddly enough, perked Maria up. "This could be a good thing and distract Mom from Michael promising to tell her his secret! Your dad is a genius!"

Kyle stopped dead in his tracks. "Guerin did what?"

Maria stopped too making hushing motions. "Keep your voice down. My mom flipped about the bruises, called your dad and everything."

Understanding dawned in his baby blues. "She think Michael did it?"

They started walking again, talking in hushed tones. Now it was Maria's turn to smile in satisfaction. "Actually no, but she did realize it had something to do with Michael being "different". Anyway he told her he'd tell her about it tonight."

Kyle rolled his eyes at Michael's stupidity. "Think the Tabasco finally fried his brain? Maybe he'll skip town… Seriously though, your mom is scary as hell, this is bad Maria. Really bad."

They were outside by now, approaching the quad where everyone was gathered. "No really, Kyle, I thought it was fine and dandy." She rolled her eyes. "Thanks, Captain Obvious. Though I would like my mom to know, she could help us out a lot."

He gave her an odd look. "How by giving my dad an all to lecture us with? Earth to Maria, your mom sells alien tourist attractions. Though it would be pretty cool to have little Michael, Max and Isabel dolls. She could call them "The Pod Squad" or even "The Royal Four" if she really felt like it. They would have little strings you pull and they could talk. Like Max would say, 'Michael what were you thinking?' or 'We do it my way, I'm the King.' And Isabel's could say 'Max, this isn't just your decision.' or just rag on everyone else's dolls."

Maria was cracking up by now. Kyle continued on.

"Michael's would be the best. He'd say 'Maria' you know the way he says your name when he's really pissed, like your four. 'This could be it, our way home.'"

Maria piped in "Don't forget 'I'm a stonewall and that's the way it's got to be."

Kyle nodded then continued on, "Tess's would be the hardest since she dropped the whole destiny thing, but 'You tell em, Buddha boy.' Would have to work because I'm obviously the most important thing.. Then if the pod people dolls really took off she could add a line of 'I know an alien club dolls' with us. Liz's doll could stare at Max's and it could have a button for when they weren't together like now and she could get snippety and say 'Just take a Psyche class, Max, because you are controlling.'. Alex's could constantly ask Isabel's out and say things like 'What I really need is a sedative.' And it could be posed in the thumbs up thing-"

He stopped abruptly. They were at the quad and something bad was about to happen.

…………..

Isabel and Max were confused and discussing the impromptu firedrill. Max always the organized school spoke up, "This wasn't on the schedule for today. I wonder if everything is all right. We should gather everyone and do a check in."

She rolled her eyes scanning the crowd for a) people higher up on the social strata than Max and b) Nicholas. "Chill, Max. It's just some punk kid who couldn't handle being in class any longer. I, for one, am happy for the break from the hellish pit they refer to as Spanish 2."

Max's reply was short. "Don't pull that with me, Iz. I'm your brother, remember. Who are you looking for, I know your hiding something."

She was saved from answering, lying, by the appearance of Liz, Alex and Tess.

Tess's smile was bright. "Hey guys! I'm so happy to have a break from Killer Miller! It looks like she'll have to cancel that nasty pop quiz."

Isabel looked at Max as if to prove a point. Unfortunately Liz decided to parrot Max. Liz's eyes had been sharp questioning the glance and showing curiosity about their earlier conversation. "Pre Cal. Is this normal? We should look for everyone else and check in."

Max gave Liz a sweet smile, "I agree, starting with Maria and Kyle since I doubt Michael came."

Alex sounded bewildered, "Uh guys? I found Maria and Kyle. And isn't that the guy Michael blasted yesterday…"

They all turned to look just in time to see Victor say something to Maria. He reached out to touch her and she visibly recoiled, backing away with a look of terror on her face.

Alex started forward but a flash of a tight black shirt indicated he was already too late. They heard the yell of, "Don't you go near her again." And saw the accompanying punch fly towards Victor's face as Michael spun him around.

Blood spurted. Then they were on the ground with Michael on top beating the stuffing out of Vicky.

At the first squirt of blood Max's neurons began working again and he rushed forward, dragging Alex with him, to get Michael. They had to shove through the crowd that had formed and was screaming fight.

Kyle was already there trying to pull Michael off, Max watched horrified as Michael shrugged him off and punched Kyle hard in the jaw all in one fluid movement before returning to his prey.

His eyes were black.

He wasn't just Michael Guerin beating the boy, he was having some help from a well-trained alien soldier by the name of Rath.

It took all three of them, Alex, Kyle and Max, plus the help of Kyle's friend Paulie to pry Michael off. He looked as though he was going to kill him, kill them for interfering, kill anyone. Max looked at Michael with the blood dripping off of his hands and spattered across his face. Max had known Michael forever, but the look in those too dark eyes chilled him to the bone, started a quaking fear deep inside of him. He knew deep down that Rath hadn't looked like that even when going into battle.

They were still restraining him forcibly when he frantically looked at a lump on the ground. "Maria! Q!"

It was a cry, he struggled harder in Max's grasp, looking down he realized Maria was on the ground. Overlooked in the excitement of a fight. He let go of Michael, letting him drop down to her. Her shook her, screaming now. "Maria? Q? C'mon Blondie, wake up! Wake up damnit."

He looked up at Max, he wore that same frantic look he'd only seen once before, when she'd been stabbed. The look that said things were about to explode and that he was about to lose it. If it was possible his eyes got impossibly darker, reflecting the sunlight back at Max. It was inhuman, but seemed to lend Michael control as he calmly scooped the still limp Maria up and shouldered his way out of the crowd, heedless of all the stares and whispers that followed him. His walk was even different, Max knew without a doubt that he wasn't following Michael anymore. Max followed grabbing group members along the way.

His eyes met Tess's, "Can you?"

She shook her head in regret. "Way too many, besides the cameras."

He gave a curt nod and continued on cursing Michael's temper and the impossibility of Victor being alive.

The entire student and teacher body watched, stupefied as Michael, bloody and imposing carried a limp, still bruised Maria out with 6 teenagers at their heels. It was a day for West Roswell's history of weirdness. First spunky "Hurricane" DeLuca shows up looking like she belongs at a battered woman and children's shelter then she freaks and bolts into a man's restroom. Somebody pulls the fire alarm and in front of everyone the resident rebel without a cause, the same one suspected of putting those bruises on that DeLuca girl's face, hauls off and beats the shit out of the popular new guy for talking to her. Then she passes out and the guy about to beat somebody to death goes soft and rushes off with her. Yes it was a day gossip wasn't likely to forget for a long time.

……………………………

Maria and Kyle were talking about dolls. Kyle was babbling on about it and stopped abruptly. Victor was coming right for them. Kyle quickly dropped his joking demeanor and stepped in front of her. Victor sidestepped him, "Maria are you OK? You looked really sick."

Accompanying his words his hand reached out to touch her shoulder. She recoiled in fear, disgust. Images and feelings of pain flared in her bruises of the night before slamming into her mind.

His arm choking her, fist connecting with her eye.

Her back roughly meeting the wall.

She couldn't breathe, she felt everything closing in on her. She saw, through a haze, Michael arrive.

Too bright.

His fist reaching out and connecting with his nose (Victor's fist hitting her eye), blood spurting everywhere (blood in her mouth from the split lip).

Pain. Sharp needles.

Michael pushing him to the ground (Him pushing her on the bed), fists flying everywhere (her punching Victor to get a sucker punch in return).

Gasp. No air.

It was a mirage, the scenes before her superimposed with the beating from the night before.

She felt herself suffocating with too many people around (an arm crushing her windpipe taking her air).

Michael's face flashing for a second, black eyes.

He always was (is) 'My knight in shining armor. Though his armor was

(is she screamed) black.'

The last clear thought, not truly hers.

It plunged her into darkness.

It was her first party of state since being relocated into the palace at King Zan's command. She knew it was Rath's doing but Zan ordered her moved into the palace so that they could better watch her and make sure she didn't let slip the contents of her divine message. He'd described her as a loose cannon, she'd almost laughed when Zan, had said it, and it was the ringer tip off it had been Rath's idea. Probably to keep her safe.

So here she was, standing in the back of a party watching all the goings on before she had to sing. Vilandra and Kivar were dancing, looking a tad too friendly. Anhal was cornering Rath with her propaganda about him leading. She really was crazy. There was a prominent councilman with his foot in a vase singing off key and conducting an imaginary orchestra with one hand and waving his glass of woksa in the other. She smiled softly to herself, the night was young yet.

A tap on her shoulder, she turned hoping to see Rath, knowing she wouldn't after their quarrel earlier. Her hopes were dashed, Fonbar. She tried to hide her disappointment. It didn't work, part of her supposed gift was her ability to convey her emotions.

He waved his bright green glass of woksa at her, the smell of alcohol was overpowering to her delicate senses. His speech was slightly slurred, "Hey Q! Don't look so disappointed to see me, you might hurt my feelings."

Ire rose in her gut, she snapped at him. "Don't call me that I have a name."

Too late she noticed though his speech was slurred his eyes were still clear, "Why not? The Commander calls you it."

A flash of fear ran through her at that, nobody was supposed to know. Rath would kill her, or worse break it off, again. They'd been so careful. She reasoned it must just be because of the alcohol.

"Yes, The Commander came up with it because my name displeases him. And I don't think there is a single person on Antar who would tell Rath he couldn't call them something."

He acknowledged the truth of her statement with a salute. "Yep, Rathy is one scary man."

He downed the rest of his woksa causing his eyes to blur, "Still darling, why can't I call you it too?"

Amusement sparkled in her eyes both at his endearment of Rathy, and at his question. She turned to leave, "The Commander doesn't play well with others."

He gave a bark of laughter and grabbed her wrist, preventing her escape. "That's a bit of an understatement, Q."

His voice was desperate now, "There is something I've been wanting to tell you for a long time."

She felt dread form in her stomach, she knew whatever he was about to say would only cause pain and problems.

"I love you, Miss Q. Ever since that day you saved me from execution-"

She snorted "execution" really meant suicide. He'd gone crazy at the loss of his Uron, the bond breaking and the pain of its death had rebounded on him. Stealing all traces of sanity. He hadn't ever been the most stable of the elite forces, far from it, he'd once used his harness, a cord used to secure his battle gear, to slaughter an entire scouting party simply because they'd used extra sugar in their mukleh. He'd never really recovered from the trauma of training. And After his Uron's demise he'd screamed for days and run away. She happened to find him about to kill himself and a few words and an offer of her food and her taking him back to the temple like a lost puppy. His sanity was still uncertain and his stability nonexistent. Add alcohol into the mix and it wasn't pretty.

She tuned back in for the last part of his speech, "We could be together, secretly of course. I'd treat you like a queen."

She didn't want to be treated like a Queen, she was treated that way every day. It was one of the reasons she loved Rath, he treated her normally calling her on her bitchiness. She kept her voice calm, masking the anger. "I'm a high priestess, that's forbidden. Not that I'm not flattered, because I am but it's not going to happen."

She paused then added as a mere afterthought, "Ever."

Apparently her answer hadn't pleased his drunken unstable mind. His eyes flashed, a sure sign of imminent danger. Quickly she regretted her word choice, her lack of thought before she spoke in general. She had no barrier between her brain and mouth, it had never mattered before. When you are Chosen it doesn't matter how rude you are, people put up with it.

He hissed at her, his fingers tightening around her wrist, a total personality change. "You're Chosen, above mere rules. Now when I say we're going to be a couple I mean it. You're going to-"

Then a hand was there; prying his hand from her wrist.

CRACK.

She heard the unmistakable sound of a wrist being snapped. Broken so casually for merely touching her. She shuddered at the thought of the damage that would incur if she was ever actually hurt.

Then the cold voice was speaking, "Leave the Siren alone, forevermore. This was your only chance because of your loss."

The voice paused to let it sink in. "Guards remove him and make sure he returns his uniform."

Guards appeared silently and with one last hate filled glance he was gone. Dismissed forever from his life, the loss of the uniform was severe.

She turned to face her savior, a small smile playing on her face. He was still stony eyed watching as they drug him away.

"My knight in shining armor." She meant it as a thank you, a small joke, an apology for earlier.

Rath looked down at her, his dark eyes unreadable with traces of his earlier coldness still intact.

"Never forget my armor is black." He meant it as a reminder of what he was, the sides he didn't let her see.

She thought about it for a moment before accepting the truth of his statement. As much as she would have wished he wasn't the pure, honorable shining night to her damsel in distress. He was a shadow, light didn't touch him, he seemed to absorb it. And instead of an aura of good deeds and purity ruthlessness clung to him like a second skin. He wasn't the knight in white armor from the legends of old, but then again she wasn't exactly the damsel in distress either, not with the weapon strapped to her thigh he insisted she wear. She smiled at him.

He reached out and silently took her hand, stroking her palm discreetly as he examined her wrist. She felt the familiar warm tingling and sparks his hand caused. They were fiery, different from anything she'd ever experienced before Rath, it was like the feeling of a live wire connecting to her spine. After lingering over her palm, much longer than his cursory examination required he dropped her wrist.

"You want me to kill him for you?" Looking into the deep coppery eyes she knew it was his way of apologizing for letting the situation happen and verifying that she was OK. The ruthlessness, which usually receded when they were together, was still lurking in his eyes alerting her that he was partially serious.

Jokingly she responded to ease the tension, "I'll get back to you on that. But seriously no. He's been through so much trauma with the loss of his Uron. He hasn't recovered."

"He never will."

His voice was short, taut with things he didn't want to think about happening to him. Pausing at the look on her face he continued on in an attempt to be gentle. "The bond is shattered, we are bound so tightly that when the bond shatters so does our soul."

She was horrified at the thought, it was madness. Who would bind people so tightly they couldn't recover. She placed her hand on his arm, "I'm sorry, Rath."

He shrugged as if reading her mind, "It's the price we pay for our strength. It's similar to the bond of Granixed couples, they never really recover from the death of their partner."

She sighed removing her hand. It was his way of reminding her that they never could Granix, not even in secret. Still that didn't mean she wasn't curious. "What happens when elite soldiers Granix."

He took her wrist delicately supporting it and began guiding her out of the ballroom with a smirk. "Their heads and souls are very crowded."

She let out a peal of laughter, earning her a few odd looks from individuals. Most people didn't think of Rath as a funny person, they didn't appreciate, or get, his dry sense of humor. He hadn't meant it as a joke but his bluntness amused her. "Too much for you to handle, Soldier Boy."

He merely looked at her, not dignifying her rib with an answer. The look that said 'you annoy me to no end'.

They were out of the ballroom by now, slipping into an empty room. The sounds of the party were muffled, but she could still hear the music well enough. Here in private he let down his walls. "He didn't hurt you in any way, did he?"

She moved closer to him so that she was easily within his grasp. She saluted him. "No sir."

He gave her one of those rare beautiful smiles. She treasured it, need it. Just like she need the feeling of his arms around her. She reached out for his shoulders. "Dance with me."

"I don't dance."

She tugged his head, gazing up into his eyes. "Please, my knight in shining armor."

He wrapped his arms around her waste with a smirk. "Black armor. How many times do I have to tell you, woman?"

She laughed, pure sweet joy bubbling up and flowing out of her. These were the moments she loved Rath's intense privacy, nobody else saw these but her.

"Black armor," she agreed.

The end of her words were swallowed up in a possessive kiss.

……………………..

Maria could hear people talking, yelling. "God, Michael how stupid can you be? In front of the whole school too, they're going to take you to jail."

"What was I supposed to do? Let him assault her again? I barely know what happened, I saw him and got so angry, then Rath got even more angry and all of the sudden I'm riding shotgun in my own freaking body. I wanted him dead."

"That's no excuse."

She felt like she was moving, bump.

Another voice. "Can it, Michael, Isabel. Maria's sick. You can fight later."

Liz. Maria put a name to the voice sleepily and felt fingers brushing her hair. Then she was gone again.

The second time she found herself coming around fingers were brushing her hair softly. She was so comfortable, her pillow was so warm. She snuggled closer, wanting to find the perfect spot. She curled her arm around it to hug it closer to her. It wasn't budging, She finally found the strength to open her eyes. The brightness hurt and she groaned. She blinked, slowly letting her eyes adjust to the light. She found herself looking up at a smirking Michael.

"Comfortable?"

She looked around, her comfy, snugly pillow she'd been trying to clutch was apparently his lap. Mortified she tried to sit up but his hands stopped her. "Not yet, you'll pass out again. Lay for a few minutes."

She felt the wave of dizziness he had talked about and laid back down. Looking around the room she saw lots of anxious faces. Liz came over and sat on the floor next to her face, and with a voice full of concern she asked, "How are you feeling?"

Ah, the question Michael had neglected to ask. What would she do without Liz, who was always there to calm the hysteria and give her a rational perspective on things.

"I feel really groggy, out of it. What happened, was I stabbed again?"

A flippant voice jumped in before Liz could. "Nope, just a bout of narcolepsy."

Tess' voice, "Narco-what? Kyle, she did not just fall asleep!"

A sound of a whack and a muffled "Hey!"

And Tess's warning tone, "Buddha boy."

Liz rolled her eyes giving Maria a small smile, "Ignore Kyle, he doesn't handle tension. Victor was at school and tried to touch you, Michael then proceeded to attempt to kill him a second time. And you passed out, you've been out for the past twenty, chica"

She felt Michael's leg muscles tense underneath her head. "So how did I end up here on my couch with my head in his lap?"

The fingers stopped stroking her hair. "If it disgusts you so much you can sit up now."

He was hurt and angry, she withheld her sigh. They were so touchy, so easy to wound these days. Their relationship pretty much nonexistent, and their tolerance very slim of each other. But regardless she slowly sat up.

"Michael.."

"I don't want to hear it, Maria. I'm glad you're all right by the way." He got up as soon as her head was clear and was walking away. For the first time she saw the blood on his hands, his face. He was bloody, covered in it, just like the blood Victor had on his hands last night. It set off her gag reflex, she choked.

Michael stilled. She was gagging because of him, because of who he was, what he'd done for her. Self-disgust filled him, who was he to think that beating up the guy who beat her would help her. She was disgusted by him, and it hurt. Hurt more than all the lectures he would get from Max, Isabel and Valenti combined. He hated her in that moment, hated how she could wound him so deep with one look. Hated her because he loved her, oh he might not show it in the usual ways. Not like Max with Liz, but every little thing he did, he did with her in mind. Like all the food in his apartment was food she would like, even though it had been moths since she'd eater there.

Her eyes met his, this time there was no disgust.

"Don't look at me like that, Michael. You just--" she was helpless for words to make him understand why she gagged. It wasn't him, it was never him. She wrung her hands hoping it would help her, words finally came and they came out in a whisper. "It's not you, Michael. It's never you. It's him.."

She watched relieved as some of the ever-present self-hate faded from his eyes. He wanted to know, needed to know how badly he'd failed her the night before. He wasn't the only one, he felt Rath's burning desire. They were still bound, the earlier rage still there. Rath wouldn't leave until he was dead again.

"What did he do to you?"

It came out harsher than he intended it and he nearly winced. It had been an order, and Maria definitely didn't take orders well. She was wringing her hands frantically now.

"I can't."

Anger was burning Michael, Rath's, the need to know was overpowering. Clouding everything else out.

"Tell me."

She was near tears now, still wringing away.

"I can't!" It was a desperate scream, her eyes burning. Willing him to understand.

Michael felt himself jolted sideways, riding shotgun in his own body, again. "You used to run to me with all of your problems. Just tell me, so I can fix it."

She was still for a moment and he knew it was a fight for control between the past and preset. The past won out and she blinked. Her eyes were dark, all pupil with only a ring of green. Her stance changed, more graceful. And when she spoke he knew the voice would be like cool water on a hot day. Refreshing and lilting, filled with an accent of music. He wasn't disappointed.

"Things change, Rath. We died and were reborn and somewhere along the line I finally grew up. I'm not the child I was, needing your protection and guidance. And you aren't that same man-boy, stuck somewhere in between."

"Oh no, they got taken over by aliens! HELP!" It was a comment on the verge of hysteria from Kyle. His uneasiness around aliens violently resurrecting itself. Everyone was watching fascinated at the once Michael and once Maria geared up for an argument a lifetime in the making.

Fire was everywhere for Michael. Anger, disappointment and fear all burning him. Rath's emotions scalding their way through, they were swirling closer, he and Rath. Ice followed the fire, a firm control setting in.

His voice was glacial, pure control. "What are you saying, Qaelia? That you no longer want to be tied to me?"

The only time he said her name as when he was particularly upset, she could count on one time the number of times he'd used it. The rest of the time it was Q, since he'd decided that her name 'sucked and he wouldn't call another Antarian by such a crappy name'. So she knew this was bad.

Maria felt and heard the thoughts struggling to keep her own identity.

"Don't twist my words, Rath. I'm saying that it's different now and you can't expect it to be the same."

Ignoring her statement he abruptly said, "You didn't have to die. You lied at the end."

It was choked with emotion that was too strong for his legendary controls.

Her answer was the same, a scream full of agony. A scream to try and make him understand.

"I did it for you."

Quieter, "for us."

A cough from somewhere in the room. Rath looked around to avoid her emotion filled eyes, noticing for the first time that they weren't alone. She had always had that effect of making everyone else disappear.

He looked at Zan. "Out."

"But I was just about to pop the popcorn. It's starting to get juicy."

Michael's eyes bored into Kyle's, "Now."

Max looked at him, not sure if it was Rath or Michael or both. The look was one that Zan had immediately followed, when the Commander ordered he jumped to. He drug Kyle out with everyone following.

After the front door was shut again he turned back to her. "You still lied."

She snapped. "Fine, I lied. Want to know why I lied to you almighty one?"

"Tell me." He was already walking away. She was on the verge of losing him and if she did she truly would be lost. She couldn't let him leave so she tried….

"Because I knew you were going to die. I knew you wouldn't make it past the Shining of the Three because of your curse."

Tears were rolling down her cheeks now. She was forcing it out word by word.

"And I knew that if you died I would be shattered, Granix or no Granix. I knew that you would go onto another life and I would be tied to Antar forever. Duty." She spat the word out. It had disgusted her, ruined her. She never would think of the word without bitterness.

"And I knew I couldn't let go without giving us a proper chance without prophecies, destinies and duty. So I was willing to die for you, take that poison so we could Granix."

He looked at the tears rolling down her face and the suppressed sobs. "Our bond should have shattered in death."

She raised her eyes to meet his. "My final betrayal of you. I knew that because I hadn't had my akino if I bonded with you it would be too strong. There would be no other bond to weaken it; it's why the Gods created the collective conscious, so that they could break Granix bonds that were wrong. So I gave us a bond not even the Gods could destroy, one that would follow us from life to life. It stole my soul from Antar and brought it here to you."

He stared at her, the pain flaring up again. The pain from the last days, the ones after her death. He was screaming now. "You shattered me. My soul was in pieces when you died. You broke me beyond all repair, I could have saved Antar. Why couldn't you just have stayed for longer?"

Tears were streaming down her red face, "You had Ozma to balance you, I thought you would be fine with the Uron bond again. I had no one. I was selfish. You couldn't have saved Zan, we'd all made too many mistakes."

He was moving closer now. "You made them again this time, Q. Maria didn't know. Where the fuck were you? I had a shit life. Where were you all those times I was having the crap beaten out of me in a trailer? You could have saved me from turning out the same."

She turned away, "I didn't know your life would be that way. I wanted us to have a clean slate. Part of you always hated me because we were bound by prophecy. I wanted us to have a chance to see if this was real, a chance without destiny and prophecy clouding it."

Her voice was soft now, "It worked."

There was scorn and bitterness. "Not really. We're still clouded by destiny just one where I thought I was supposed to be with Isabel."

Her back was all the way to him now, "Stop hurting me. Don't talk about that."

He had no reply to that. He reached out and softly turned her around. She stiffened in his arms. "Do I disgust you that much?"

She sighed, stepping back. "Not you, I just."

"What the hell happened? How badly did I fail you? God, Ma-Q, what did he do to you to make you act like this around me?" He was so frustrated, reaching a breaking point.

Two angry red blotches appeared on her cheeks and her fists balled up. She was screaming at him. "He beat me, Michael. You of all people should understand what its like. My body thinks that it's going to get hit again. It hurt so bad. So much worse than the stabbing, because I passed out there. This time I was conscious, perfectly aware for every time he hit me. Conscious when he tried to choke me, conscious when he drug me down the hallway-"

"STOP."

The walls shook.

He calmed himself before continuing. Then a flash of protective fury flared. "stop it. I can't handle it. Did he? Did he.."

Bitterness colored her tones, "No, I'm still only yours."

Possessiveness. "Good."

At the look in her eyes he stilled his hands. "All you can say is Good. God, Michael, Rath, always thinking of yourself. It doesn't matter that I was hurt, just that something you saw as yours didn't get taken away."

The living room was shaking now. He was so angry with her, Rath, Michael, both. They were one and their anger was causing a mini earthquake. Papers flew off the table, flying up as though launched in a geyser.

She continued on ignoring his anger, feeding off of it to form her own. The room was shaking beneath her feet and it brought up another thing. "You know why else I don't want you touching me? Because apparently you almost killed me once. And I'm afraid you'll lose control and actually do it this time. He hurt me so bad and to know that you did that once…. It kills me."

He turned and exploded a lamp while she was talking and started trying to scream over her. "You know that was an accident Q! You fracking snuck up on me. What are you talking about listening to lies. Damnit, Maria. You know I wouldn't hurt you.."

The door flew open.

………………………….

They were all standing on the front lawn, having been kicked out by "psycho Mike0" as Kyle had dubbed him. Everyone was terribly curious and wanted more than anything to be inside watching the argument. Liz was sitting on the porch next to Alex, "What do you think they're yelling about?"

Alex gave her a reassuring smile. "With Michael and Maria you never know."

Kyle turned from where he was leaning on the rail. "But they're not just Michael and Maria now are they."

Liz gave him a look. "Thanks, Kyle. That helps a lot."

Isabel winced at the loud scream of frustration that was clearly heard through the door. "I hope they don't kill each other."

Max looked at the worried faces that appeared. "They won't."

A few skeptical faces still peered back at him. He gave a tight smile. "Remember that picture that Michael found at Courtney's. The one where he's watching her through the window."

Kyle nodded in understanding, "You don't kill someone you've spent your entire summer stalking discreetly."

Max gave him a look. Isabel piped in, "What about Maria though? She's always had a temper."

Max looked at her, and with a secret smile aimed at Liz he answered. "Maria asked Michael for the picture."

Liz nearly sighed at the odd sweetness of it. Tess's worried voice came from near Kyle. "Guys the house is shaking."

"Guys the ground is shaking." Kyle parroted her with his own addition.

Max looked worriedly towards the obviously shaking house, but before he could do anything Valenti puled up in a police cruiser.

"What the hell is going on? Where is Michael? I get a call from the school informing me that Michael beat up some guy named Victor in front of a crowd, then ran off with Maria."

Fear colored Isabel's voice, fear and desperation. "Why did they call you? They don't normally call the police for school fights…"

"They want him arrested for assault. Why did he beat that boy?"

Max sighed, "He's the one who hurt Maria last night. Michael thought he'd killed him, but apparently not."

Valenti nodded, not passing judgment. "That makes sense."

Tess asked what was all on their minds, looking back and forth from Max to Valenti. "What do we do now?" Isabel watched as a car drove down the street. She looked more closely, Nicholas was in the back banging on the window, and he looked terrified .

Before anybody could answer the Jetta comes roaring into the driveway. Isabel looked at the house and back down the street. She quietly slipped away. Amy jumped out, "Where is Maria and why are you all on my lawn?"

"Amy.."

"Don't you Amy me Jim. Where is my daughter? The school called me and said she collapsed and Michael took her away after severely beating up a boy. I'm assuming he's the one who hurt my baby. And you're going to arrest him for it."

She followed everyone's eyes to the house. It was still shaking. "Why is my house shaking." It was a demand.

The voices from inside got louder, they could clearly hear both Maria and Michael screaming at each other. Amy gave them all one last piercing look before marching to the door, with the sheriff right behind her. She threw it open.

Her eyes scanned the scene before her. It wasn't pretty. The room was shaking, papers were everywhere and there was a broken lamp on the floor in many pieces. Michael and Maria, both with angry black eyes and balled fists, were screaming at each other in the middle of the room. They looked like they were about to commit murder, or kiss. She wasn't sure which, both were unacceptable. "What's going on?"

She grabbed a magazine off the counter and advanced on Michael while she talked. She started whacking him with it. "Get away from my daughter. Stop it. Away."

Whack. Whack. Whack. Whack. She shoved him in a chair. Whack. He was trying to block with his hands. Whack.

He looked up at her, copper eyed. She narrowed her eyes, folded her arms across her chest. "Who are you and what have you done to my daughter?"

She tapped the rolled magazine menacingly against her arm. He looked past her as he gulped, looked at the sheriff. Her eyes followed. "Jim?"

Maria moved to stand behind the chair her mother had him captive in. He turned to look at her, asking her with his eyes.

Whack.

Right on his head. "Don't look at my daughter."

He rubbed his head and with a sullen glare muttered. "I'm an alien."

Whack.

"Enh. Wrong. Try again."

His stare was steady. It was beginning to disconcert her. "I'm an alien."

Her hand came down ready for another whack. A hand gently grabbed her wrist. The sheriff's "Amy, It's true."

The magazine fell from her grasp and she turned incredulous eyes towards the sheriff. "You believe him."

He shrugged. "It's the truth."

She couldn't breath. Gasps for breath. Then she heard Maria.

"Breathe, Mom. Just breathe."

She turned to her daughter for a relief from this madness. She got a soft smile. "It's true mom, Michael is extraterrestrial."

Her eyes got big and her mouth formed an O. "ET."

Then she started laughing hysterically, the laughter turned into sobs and she turned into Valenti for support. He rubbed her back. "Amy, listen to me. He's still the same kid you know. –"

She looked at him. "No he's not. He's an alien for Christ's sake, Jim."

"So are you here to kill us or just ruin my daughter's life?"

He winced at that, even when she was having a breakdown she still put Maria first. "Neither. I'm um a reincarnation of Rath."

She gave him the look. "And this has to do with my daughter how?"

Maria looked at her mom and decided it was time she knew everything. "Well, I'm a reincarnation of his lover."

An eyebrow raised. "Lover?"

It was like a shot had been fired. Valenti jumped in, "Why don't you sit down, Amy. We'll tell you everything."

She nodded her head and let him lead her to the couch. She noticed the rest of the group had followed them into the house. "Fine but you will explain that last part young lady."

She looked around at the group, a horrifying thought occurring to her. "How many of you are aliens!"

2 hands slowly raised in the air. "Good God. I think I'm going to pass out."

Tess tried to diffuse some tension. "I'll make you some tea, Ms. DeLuca."

She turned her gaze back to Michael after a nod at Tess. "Explain lover."

"Rath and Q are our past lives. They were romantically involved, Granixed."

He scratched his eyebrow at the look of confusion on her face and sighed. He tried to clarify, "Like soulmates. It's kind of an antarian marriage that binds your souls together, for life. Or in our case forever."

"So you've had sex."

"MOM!"

Her gaze hadn't left Michael. "Not in this lifetime, but last time yes."

Maria rolled her eyes and he hastily added. "Once."

A thoughtful look crossed her face, "You must have died soon after the wedding then."

Pain flashed across their faces, Michael's so acute she nearly reached out to him.

"Yes. She died not long after."

Max saw the pain on Michael's face and it triggered something.

……………………

The guards had come running into the throne room. He'd immediately looked up from the paperwork he'd been working on. A knot of dread in his stomach.

They were panting. One managed to speak. "You must come, Sire. Rath has gone mad, screaming and screaming."

So she had died then.

"Show me the way."

By the time he got to the Granolith it had been hours. The trip had taken ages, though they had traveled amazingly fast for ordinary circumstances. He walked into the Granolith seeing a group of milling people. He felt the pain radiating off of the place. He turned to the nearest priest, the same one he dimly remembered as being there the day The Siren had brought her message to his council. And now she was dead.

The priest shook his head, "He won't let us take her. He's using his powers to keep everyone out, he won't let anybody near."

Zan nodded, pain and weariness flashing through him like a knife. Was this what their lives had come to because of his decisions? Rath broken. Him a puppet. He hadn't approved of Rath's liaison, and had specifically ordered him not to Granix. Apparently the one and only order Rath ever disregarded. He sighed, just because he hadn't approved didn't mean he felt for his friend any less.

"Take me to him."

The priest nodded and he walked down the hallway into the most recently discovered room in the Granolith. The same one Rath and she had discovered, had started everything in. Zan thought it was fitting it should end there as well, full circle. First he saw the backs of two people who were obviously pleading with Rath. Then he was pushing by them. He stepped forward, he bounced back. Forcefield.

"Rath, its Zan. Let me in."

He could see his back, crouched on the floor rocking back and forth.

"Leave me alone."

"Why? You never left me alone."

He tried again, this time there was no barrier. He walked around slowly, dropping to a squat in front of him. He was clutching her to him, rocking her back and forth. His face was broken, and Zan could hear the screams that filled Rath's mind. Here was his dearest friend before him, shattered beyond all repair. The strongest man he'd ever known, looking like an old man, crushed by the death of a girl. Rath was staring intently at her face, softly stroking the hair around it. "She's beautiful."

Zan's words stirred something in Rath. "Yes she is. More than you'll ever know."

Zan nodded. "You chose well."

Rath's words sounded as though they had been clawed from the depths of hell. "Too well."

He pulled her closer. Zan watched his grief silently for a moment, choosing his next words carefully. "You were her world."

Rath's eyes closed tightly at the use of past tense. His breathing was labored.

Zan knew he had to do it, but it hurt so bad to shatter Rath further. "She's gone, Rath."

A heartbeat. Two. Three.

His eyes opened and fixed on Zan. Zan shuddered and looked away. He'd looked into the 9th level of hell, he'd seen a soul ripped in half and left in bloody pieces. He'd seen the fallen sun.

"I know." It was a hoarse whisper.

Zan reached out and touched his shoulder. "You have to let go of her body."

Rath's arms stayed locked around her. "Give her a beautiful burial. Honor your wife. Try and pick up the pieces that are left and live for her. Live for the world she saw in you."

A ghost of a smile touched his face for a second. "My wife, my granela."

Zan thought of Tavaessa and the joy she had brought him even without a Granix. And the loss Rath was feeling. "Yes, your wife, your granela."

His eyes were faraway and his words were forced. "I had just saved her when we decided to Granix, a day ago. She looked so beautiful in the cavelight, and the tattoo looked so perfect on her. Like it belongs."

Zan's voice was soft. "It does."

Rath slowly took one of his arms off and tilted her wrist showing Zan the marking that claimed her as his. Rath's symbol combined with hers and the symbol for life. Till death do us part. Zan looked closer, the symbol for life was wrong. It remained unbroken, the perfect circle. Eternity. He supposed it was because of her death. Shrugging it off he looked back at Rath.

"She's gone, Rath. Let her soul join Antar."

A bitter smile, "Not really. She'll always be here." He motioned towards his heart, his soul. Softly he laid her back down with such tender care that it brought emotion, darkness to Zan's eyes. He gently arranged her hair and traced the tattoo on her wrist one last time before letting go of her completely. They were quiet for a moment and Zan opened his mouth to tell Rath that she would have a beautiful burial when it happened.

The Granolith lit up and Zan heard music, the hymn that she sang when ascending souls after death. The song Rath had heard the first time he met her. The Granolith burned brighter and the sound of her voice got higher and lightening flashed. A last glimmer of a tattoo and she was gone. Body and all, returned to heaven.

Rath lost himself to his screams.

……………………..

Max was back in the present, horror and pain still filling him. He looked at Michael and quickly looked away, he couldn't look at him. Not with all of the pain he'd just seen, the broken version. He'd always thought Michael was unbreakable, especially after Hank, but to see him after the loss of Maria. God, he shuddered. Everyone was giving him odd looks.

Liz's voice was full of concern. "Max? Are you all right? We've been asking you a question for the past few minutes.."

He pinched himself discreetly, "I'm fine now. Just really zoned out there. What did I miss."

Maria who was sitting next to her mother answered, "Mom freaked out some more. That's about it."

She stood up and abruptly sat down again. "Maria? Honey are you OK?"

She smiled, "A touch dizzy."

Her stomach growled. Her mother looked at her, "When was the last time you ate?"

Her brows furrowed in concentration. "I dunno, yesterday maybe?"

Tess got up, "I'll make you something, so everyone can keep talking."

Maria smiled sweetly. Michael's voice popped in, "Make her a grilled cheese and fruit salad."

Everyone looked at Michael and got a sullen stare in return. Tess just nodded, and Max was glad of the distraction that had allowed him to regain control of himself.

Amy looked at the sheriff. "I want that boy arrested. I don't care if he's ET himself, he will rot in jail."

"I want him dead." It was Michael.

"Yeah, because that worked really well last time."

The sheriff shot his son a warning glare. "No, I think Amy is right. If I jail him we know where he is. We have him contained for at least a while, because I doubt he'll use his powers. Too risky."

Liz nodded, though still a bit worried. "Are we sure it just wasn't a shapeshifter last night? The guy could be totally innocent."

Michael growled, and Liz looked at him closely. Then she got up and walked over and looked at him again. She looked as though she had an epiphany and ran out of the room.

Alex looked at Kyle, "I think we just had a jinkies moment."

Everyone snickered as Liz came running back in with a Q-tip. She advanced on Michael. Then looked around at everyone. "He's covered in his blood. I'm taking a sample so we can look at it to see if he's human. It's how I found out about Max, his cells are completely different."

Valenti nodded. "I'm going to go arrest Victor. Michael get yourself cleaned up, your going to need to give a statement. I'll attempt to get the school to back off on the assault charges. Maria, you're going to need to give one as well."

They nodded, he left. Everyone looked to Liz to see if they had an alien or not.

……………………….


	15. Chapter 11A

Author's note: Love all the lovely reviews and reviewers. I'll take time and thank everyone personally when I post the second half of this part. This is the first part of part 11 but since i'm going to look at furman u tomorrow i wanted to get at least something up since ill be gone for a few days. i should have been packing not writng. but anways here we go.

Collision Part 11

"Max do these cells look odd too you?" Liz asked while peering into a microscope.

"Let me see." He said leaning over her shoulder to press his eye against the eyepiece. Liz smiled at the feeling of him pressed against her back, it had been a long time since they had been that close physically. He fiddled with the sights.

"I'm not sure, they look like normal human cells but something seems slightly off."

Liz frowned. "Are you positive?"

He pulled back from the microscope and looked at her. "I think so."

Liz frowned again and pulled her hair back. She looked intently at Max, "Are we sure were not just looking for something that isn't there? Like wanting him to be the bad guy because it makes everything simple."

Max nodded his head slowly, understanding her point. "My cells are completely different, not just a subtle off-ness. He might just have a small irregularity or it may be my imagination. But I want to be positive either way. It isn't a time for mistakes."

Liz nodded; they had to know one way or another. She racked her brain for alien identifying tips. She came up blank. She looked back at Max.

"Jinkies" she whispered.

Max gave her an odd look thinking about Kyle and Alex.

"Isabel.' Was his response.

Another odd look. "Isabel? I don't follow…"

Liz smiled at him. "She can dream-walk him."

Max smiled in return. "You're a genius, Liz. Good work, partner. We can also have Nacedo take a look. Surely he can tell."

Liz got up off her stool and held out her hand, "A perfect plan. I think your work here is done."

Max nodded and grabbed the slide, no use in being careless. They put away the microscope and quietly left the school. It was a beautiful evening, calm skies. A complete opposite to the events of the day so far. Liz turned to Max, "What now?"

He grabbed her hand as they walked towards the jeep. "See if everyone's done at the police station. Then gather the troops for another debriefing."

Liz nodded as he opened the door for her. She waited until they were on the road before continuing. "Do you think Michael will have to stay in jail?"

His fingers tightened to white on the wheel.

"I hope not, but I really don't know. What he did was stupid; it's not like we can cover it up. The whole school saw, so I'm counting on the sheriff and all of their statements to keep him out. And Nacedo to step in somehow if it comes to that."

Liz looked at him anger burning in her eyes. "What he did wasn't stupid, Max. He did it for Maria, one of our best friends. And I don't think he's sorry he did it, I'm certainly not. He'll take his consequences if it comes to that."

Max turned to her at the stoplight, trying to apologize and make her understand his point of view. "I didn't mean it that way, Liz."

He turned back to the road, "Since when are you playing the devil's, I mean Michael's, advocate?"

She laughed; losing some of her anger, at Max's little joke. "He's hardly the devil, Max!"

He muttered, "You didn't know him when we were kids.."

She didn't hear him so she continued on. "Just since I've seen him and how he cares about her. I used to think that their relationship was just physical, not deep or very Romeo and Juliet. ('Like ours' it went unsaid, but Max under stood her perfectly, he always had.) He's just given up so much for her you know, like all those nights watching her and some of that coldness. He told her mom regardless of the consequences and possible death. It's brave and it shows he's losing his protective shell, giving up so much for her."

Max' voice was soft and his eyes pained. The thought of that memory haunting him. "More than you know, Liz. So much more."

He didn't say it soft enough, she heard him. "What are you talking about Max?"

She paused, "Did you get a flash?"

Max didn't say anything at first; he wasn't sure what to say. He looked over at Liz; she was urging him on with her eyes. "Yes, I got a flash. I've had a few now."

Liz processed the information, she wasn't exactly surprised. She chose her next words carefully, thinking of Michael and Maria. "Is Zan rising?"

Max pulled the jeep over; he cut the engine and turned to look at her fully. "I don't know. He's not as strong as Rath and Q are and I haven't felt him stirring. Just his memories coming through, but I don't know if he'll stay that way."

Liz nodded slowly, "It's odd that y'all have their personalities inside you. I'd always gotten the impression it would just be memories."

"Me too, I want to ask Nacedo about it. I don't think they meant to give us both lifetimes personalities since this was to learn from their mistakes, not let them commit them again."

"Good idea." A hesitant look, "What have you seen in your flashes?"

'_Please not Tess. Please not Tess.'_ It ran like a mantra through her mind, but she had to know. He looked at her and gave her a wry smile as if he could read her mind.

"I'll tell you about today's because I really need to talk about it but I don't want to share it with the group. The rest I will and I think Tess and Isabel might be having flashes too."

Liz looked out the window, "Too many secrets already, Max. We need to have a big honesty session. Why don't you want to share this one with everyone?"

Max rubbed his temples, trying to find the right words to make her understand and not force him. "I don't want it to trigger Rath's memory of that day in Michael. I want to protect him from that pain. Besides, Michael and Maria's thing is complicated enough without adding more reasons to push each other away."

He looked at Liz, she understood, kind of, but still didn't know what he was referring to.

"When Mrs.DeLuca said that they must have died soon after their marriage I looked at the pain on Michael's face and it triggered my, Zan's, memory of the day she died."

He paused to control himself staring intently at his hands. He missed the fine shiver that ran through Liz at the mention of her best friend's death. "It was horrible, messengers came and told me Rath had gone insane. When I got there he was clutching her body, he was shattered, Liz. I've never seen Michael like that, not when Hank.. Not when he almost ran away, not after he killed Pierce. He was in so much pain, his world was gone, his mind filled with screams."

He was so focused on his own pain, Zan's pain; he didn't really notice the distress Liz was feeling about talking about her friend being dead. He paused trying to find a way to better make her understand. "Do you remember how Michael was when Maria was stabbed?"

Liz nodded, shuddering at the memory. It had been such a horrible day; "I rain in on them. He was scary, helpless, totally out of control. He was breaking before my eyes."

Max nodded at her description, "It was like that but infinitely worse because he had no hope, he was filled only with grief. She died, their soul was one and her death ripped his soul in half. But it was like she had taken it all, his soul and hers. Just imagine in Maria had died and the sate Michael would be in."

Horror and understanding dawned in her eyes. "Poor Rath. What happened to him?"

Max squeezed his eyes shut, trying to block out the images. "Zan, I, loved Rath more than anything, Rath was his greatest friend and he had to break him even further by taking her away. He wouldn't let go of her body because if he did it really would be the end of their story. Liz, I had to tell him she was gone! That it really was over, I had to rip his sanity, his hope from him."

His voice was so loud now; choked with the anguish he was feeling. "I told him he should honor his wife, his granela with a beautiful burial and pick up the pieces and live for the world she saw in him. And then she was gone, Liz. The Gods took her; they didn't even let Rath bury his wife! Where's the justice in that?"

His voice was bitter, lowering in pitch. "There is none, no justice in the world. He loved her, they were one and the Gods took it from him twice. I could have given them more time if I'd given Rath my blessing, but no I didn't. I scorned the Gods, wanted Rath to marry Vilandra, I hurt my best friend over and over. And when I took her from him the final time he screamed and screamed losing himself to the hell that had become his life. And I couldn't protect him from it; I couldn't take the pain. I couldn't protect Rath from all that pain, so I'll protect Michael from it, from remembering it and living it."

"Max." her voice was soft. "That was a lifetime ago, yes it was horrible and devastating. But we can't change that; we have to live in the present. We all make mistakes but not all of us get a chance to fix them, so don't let it eat you up. Protect Michael from; help Maria and Michael cherish he time they have now. I'll help you and respect your choice about not telling the group."

He looked at her, "Thank you Liz. Thank you for everything, for listening, for not judging."

He started the car.

…………………………………….

"All right, Mr.Guerin after reviewing the circumstances regarding today's fight I've decided to not file assault charges against you if you agree to 100 hours of community service to be done on the school grounds."

Michael looked across the sheriff's office tot he dim little man known as his high school principal. His voice was stern but his face held something else. Pity and a bit of admiration. Michael realized they were waiting form him to agree. "Yes, sir."

The principle stood, folded his hands and looked at him for a long moment. Choosing his words carefully he began to talk again "You stood up for someone who couldn't stand up for herself. I respect people who fight for what, or who, they believe in. That factored highly in your favor when making my decision. But know this Mr.Guerin, next time you feel the need to protect someone or fight for what you believe in review your choices thoroughly because I won't be as lenient then."

"Yes, sir." Michael was slightly embarrassed. He'd just been in a way complimented by a principal that had definitely never happened before. In a way it made him proud, he looked at the small man who ruled West Roswell and could easily imagine him in high school as the kid who got picked on and shunned and the kid who never had the guts to stand up for anything, not even himself. The kid Max Evans might have been without Michael and Isabel. He nodded as the principle left with the sheriff.

Michael got up and stretched, it had been a nightmare of a day. He looked at his bruised knuckles and shook his head. He needed to go somewhere and think. He left the office only to see the anxious faces of Maria and her mother. The bruises on Maria's face stood out in a high contrast to her pale skin, he hadn't done enough, not nearly enough. Maria's eyes searched his face for any signs of what had been said, finding none she impatiently queried, "Well?"

He ran his hand through his hair, "I'm free to go. No charges, just 100 hours of school service."

Maria squealed in delight and hugged herself. Her mother gave a sigh of relief, "Thank God. And Jim as the horrible creep who hurt my baby behind bars. It has been a long couple of hours, kids. I'm ready to go home." A stern look at Michael. "You're still sleeping on my couch."

She started dragging them outside. The night sky shone brightly, stars twinkling like thousands of diamonds. Michael stopped to look up, it was peaceful, soothing his rough emotions. He needed to think, calm down after today and looking at the two chattering DeLuca women heading for the car he knew he wouldn't get that at their home. He needed a place that was quiet, exclusive, where nobody could interrupt him. A place which was only his. The apartment was out, people always barged in or the phone rang.

'_The cave. Your Pod' _The thought drifted into his mind like a cool breeze. Michael wasn't sure if it was his or not, or if it was even Rath's. It had a different flavor, not tinged with rage or sadness. It tasted fresh, like cool water, pure and sweet. He trusted it.

He walked to the Jetta where Maria and her mom were already inside. Amy looked up, he addressed her but his eyes were only on Maria. "Mrs.DeLuca, I'll be over later. I just need some time to think and calm down alone after today."

Amy's eyes followed his gaze to Maria, remembering the argument earlier she understood his need. Besides, she needed some alone time with her daughter to sort things out. "Where are you going? In case we need to reach you."

There was no use in lying to a DeLuca, "The podchamber."

She looked confused, Maria cleared it up with for the first time that day no hostility in her eyes as she looked at him. "Where he hatched."

Michael rolled his eyes, just like Maria to say hatched instead of born, like he was some sort of reptile. Mrs.DeLuca reached into her daughter's purse and grabbed her cell phone. Handing it to Michael she said, "Keep it on in case we need you. Be at my house no later than 10:30 or I raise an alarm, and come find you myself."

He gulped, nodded and pocketed the phone. He was touched by her motherly concern and understanding his space. "Yes ma'am."

It never hurt to be polite, especially if she was hiding a book in her car. He bent down so he look Maria full in the eyes. "Be safe, Lock the doors. Call me if you need me."

She nodded and he walked away.

……………………..

Isabel followed the car past city limits in Kyle's car. She'd borrowed, AKA used her powers to start it, and she figured Kyle would assume he rode with everyone else. She was being careless and risky and she knew it but she couldn't stop herself.

Driving through the desert she never once questioned her motivation for slipping away from her family to run off in pursuit of a boy from her past. All she knew was that someone had Nicholas and that wasn't acceptable.

The car slowed near an old warehouse and the woman drug Nicholas into it, Isabel watched from a distance, thinking about her best plan of action. She paused, wondering if she should call the others for back up. Gnawing on her lip she debated. Michael was obviously a no, he was too busy fighting with Maria and going to jail. Tess, maybe, she could use her mindwarp. Max would help she knew, he would always protect her. Slowly she picked up her phone to dial.

"Isabel?"

She stopped, looking fearfully around before realizing it had been in her mind. The voice spoke again, "Isabel, you've got to help me now! They're going to kill me.."

"Nicholas?" She tentatively sent out the thought.

"Yes, Vilandra. Please I don't want to die." His mental voice was tinged with desperation.

Isabel felt the response he evoked when using Vilandra's name. A burning desire to help him, an overwhelming need that left no other choice.

Vilandra was rising.

She put the phone into her pocket and got out of the car. Calling for help would waste too much time. Nicholas needed her now.

"I'm coming where are you?"

His voice was faint in her mind, worry gnawed her stomach. "At the back of the building."

Isabel decided her best bet was to sneak around the outside of the building and enter the back rather than risk getting trapped inside. It was a slow tedious process of constantly checking around corners with a mirror and jumping at every sound. She wasn't cut out to be a warrior that was Michael's job. She was the princess, made to look pretty and rule with an iron fist but if Nicholas needed a warrior, he would get one. She would do whatever it took.

'_He became a warrior for you.' _It came as a whisper into her mind, a compelling sweet whisper that told of times long gone.

Vilandra.

Isabel felt her stretching out, assessing the situation. She was rising from her long rest, and wasn't happy about Nicholas being in danger. They crept slowly forward, Isabel calmer with Vilandra's regal presence feeling her. Small sounds didn't scare a girl who was trained to be Queen.

Isabel heard voices through a wall, one feminine and yelling, the other a boy's in scorn and fear. She felt hate and possessiveness coursing through her veins, Vilandra's emotions. They had found Nicholas. She pressed her ear against the wall and heard a bit of the conversation.

"She betrayed you, Nkyot!"

"She loved me, and I won't let you have her."

Isabel felt pride and admiration for him. Even when faced with death he still stood up for her. She smiled softly, it was time to rescue him. She snuck forward around the corner, there was a door. Conveniently left slightly ajar.

A sense of foreboding filled her, shaking it off she reached for the handle. She was Isabel, Queen of West Roswell, and she was Vilandra Queen to be of Antar. She was indestructible.

She grabbed the door handle and turned it slowly, creeping in as softly as she could. She tiptoed down the corridor surprised at seeing no gaurds anywhere. She peered in the room where he was tied to a chair, blood running down his face from the cuts. She wanted to wait until the female's back was turned, so she waited. Waited and listened.

The female was talking again. "You're a fool, boy. You put your allegiance with her when you should have followed Zan and Rath."

"They wanted her dead. Zan wanted to kill his own sister for the crown. No joint sharing for him."

Isabel felt Vilandra's outrage rise, but she didn't have time to delve into it and discover what she was outraged about. She couldn't believe it, Zan and Rath wanted her dead. Max and Michael. But Zan had wanted Rath and Vilandra to marry, that's what Max said. Max was lying to her..

"What's that?" Nicholas's voice, he'd seen her out of the corner of his eye.

The female looked to the window. "What?"

Isabel rushed in, feeling no fear. Her hand was raised and she threw the woman into the wall.

"Leave him alone."

The old woman looked at her and laughed. She laughed and laughed. "So Zan hasn't rememberd yet? You're still alive. Well don't count on it lasting, he'll kill you soon."

Max would never kill her, she let the anger take her. In a bolt of energy and a flash of light she was dust.

Isabel turned to Nicholas, hurrying over to help untie him. "Are you ok?"

He looked at her, his brown eyes luminous. "I am now, you saved me."

She smiled, at him helping him stand. "Why did she take you?"

He looked at her sadly, "She wanted to lure you to kill you. She thinks it would have put her in the King's good graces and gotten her a ticket back to Antar on the Granolith."

Isabel was stunned, they turned to leave the room. He stopped, "I want a moment. She was my mother in this life."

Looking at him pityingly she nodded softly, to have his own mother try and kill him and her. It must have come as a horrible shock. She turned and walked into the corridor.

Nicholas stood alone in the room, looking at the dust that had become Ida. His voice was soft, "A true soldier. You served your orders until the end, she's ours now. The plan worked perfectly except you died. Shonx'a."

An honorable death.

………………….

He waked into the pod chamber slowly, the day's weariness catching up too him. He slid down the wall opposite the pods and gratefully leaned against its strength. His thoughts began to rush in.

_Who am I? I'm not the Michael of two weeks ago that's for sure. But I'm also not the warrior commander who'd lived a lifetime ago. And I'm not truly a blend of the two, Rath still lives on in my thoughts. In a way I'm Michael with a little bit of Rath and I have a feeling that Rath isn't entirely himself anymore either. Neither is Maria the same. _

He sighed. _In the end it all comes back to Maria, her, it always had. It had always been that way since our lives collided the day we met. _His fingers found some small rocks, he began idly tossing them across the podchamber. _Ever since the day we met my life had begun to revolve around hers. A tumultuous trip for information led me to her and a new chamber in the Granolith. A kiss, then an attempt of avoidance on my part. A divine message ruined my plans and found me watching her under Zan's orders to keep her mouth shut. A dangerous affair full of risk took the dominant place in my life, pushing duty aside for once. Even now my world still revolved around hers, building napkin holders to keep her near and stalking her. Then today this fight, who were we during that? It was all four of us and none of us at the same time, issues from both lifetimes swirling around us. Last time she was my sun, and the sun had fallen and here she was screaming at me. I was Rath, he was me. Maria wasn't just Maria. How can we handle this, baggage from two lifetimes? I can barely handle my own baggage and hers just drives me insane. And now she's got so much more, I can't even touch her, help her. Doesn't she realize that every time she flinches it's a reminder of how badly I failed? Doesn't she understand that she took my soul with her and all I wanted was it back? We were young last time, young and stupid. We thought we were invincible, that we could betray everyone and be loyal to each other. We should have known better but we didn't and we didn't just hurt ourselves we hurt everyone else. We were two kids who were playing with fire and were so surprised when we got burnt. Those burns are still so raw and fresh, and I'm not sure if they'll ever heal. I'm not sure I want them to, I don't want to forget all the pain we caused each other. _

_I look at her green eyes filled with pain and I sometimes think that we are a mistake that this love was never meant to be. That we made a mistake and can't fix it, that it would be so much easier if we tried to forget about it, forget about each other. I know she could be happy with someone else, maybe not the same fiery passion but happier than I could make her. I look at Liz and Max and see how well they fit, see how they don't constantly wound each other and I think we're wrong. That we're bound by flame, burning passions that leave scars. And I think that I might have to let her go, I might have to push her away before we ruin each other again. Because I love her enough to let her go, to give up hurting her because I'm so worried she'll hurt me first._

_Then I get selfish again and it's always her. She is the sun I crave, I need to keep away the darkness that ran in him. The deep internal pain that always seemed to churn. The pain that ran too deep. Rath had it too, the pain, the hurt all his life until Q came. I know this pain, my pain and Rath's pain, are the same and that they're old, lifetimes old. Something that scarred my soul long before either of us were around. _

He tossed a rock through his pod. _Wait through?_ He had been expecting the sharp click of it hitting the back, it didn't come. Narrowing his eyes he tossed another rock, it went through again. Getting to his feet he went over to examine his pod, it didn't have a back. It was a passageway, a gateway to another space. Curious he crawled through it. Standing up and brushing himself off he looked around.

The Granolith.

Michael looked aorund the room in awe. The Granolith flashed in what seemed like a welcome before returning to playing light patterns over the walls. He felt emotions flare through him, so much had happened in this room. He walked slowly aorund to the spot on the far side of the floor. Squatting down he touched it softly, an old pain flaring through him. This was where she died, and ascended. He looked back to the cone again hearing whipsers of an old melody on the wind. It penetrated an understanding in him, releasing some of Rath's old rage, sadness and feelings of betrayal to dissappear. This room truly held the touch of the Gods, a direct link.

"You took her soul, brought it here because the burial would have kept her on Antar wouldn't it? No body, no link. This how she got to Earth.." gratitude towards a, supposedly, inanimate obect and whoever ran it flooded him. "Thank you."

It was one of the few sincere thank yous he'd ever issued. And he meant it, both him and Rath. Without Maria he'd still be some isolated alien with a shit life and Rath would eternally angry and lonely.

He looked a few feet to the left, where they'd first kissed (her first) and he'd run. He walked aorund to where the door was at his back, a feeling of shame and regret, the same feeling he'd had felt during the fight, filled him but he didn't know why. He let the soft breeze sweep him back to another time, another mistake.

He was sitting in the Granolith, exhausted and emotionally empty from the battle. It had been the worst battle so far in his time as General. Pure carnage, war at its worst with no prisoners. The battle had deeply disturbed him, never before had he seen women and children used as weapons, sacrifical distractions. His soldiers were trained ot leave women and children spared and weren't sued to having to fight them. It was horror and he'd fled and sought refuge as soon after the victory as he could. So now he sat, body on autopilot from the battle and stared at the glowing cone and wondered. It was such a soothing place.

How had his lfe become like this? Where did it go wrong, when did it get so that Zan was ordering him to kill women and children? Where Vilandra was growing more distant by the day drawn into a trap that everyone but her could see and nobody but her could stop? When did he start to feel again. A year ago if ordered to kill a child he might have found it a distasteful task but would have performed it anyway with no qualms because it was his job. But then again a year ago he wasn't really alive, he was a machine. That had changed with a kiss, like he'd been asleep for years and only then woke up to find out he was alive. His life had been a distant dream one that he walked through but not really touching anything or being touched in return. Zan was still sleeping, a puppet waiting for someone or something to roust him. But he, on the other hand had been sleeping beauty. She'd come along, making him feel and his blood boil, kissing him and showing him that he was allowed to feel, that all feelings weren't painful. And he needed to stop it, needed to fall back into htat numbing sleep he'd fallen into during his training because being awake was so hard to bear. He'd fallen asleep the first time because it was the only way for him to survive the training, and now he wanted to fall asleep again to survive in Zan's world. But he was already falling, falling in a very different direction, a dangerous one. One that would only bring pain, what he'd spent his life trying to avoid.

He heard a sound, an exhalation behind him. Instinct from the battle earlier took over. He turned taking them out, knocking htem over, pinning htem down and had his blade pressed to their throat before they even had a chance. He growled ferally scanning the room for more enemies. Finding none he finally looked down, ready to slit the intruder's throat.

Her wide eyes stared up at him with a mixture of surprise and fear. She lay still but slowly reached her hand up to his face. The knife against her throat was shaking, along with his arm, evident of his battle for control. A battle between instincts still running the show and the sudden recognition he had felt. Her hand was on his cheek now, guiding his face closer, taking her time. Here in this moemt, in this holy Granolith time always seemed to stop, leaving an eternity for everything.

Their eyes were locked, her deep open eyes leading him slowly back to himself as their faces moved closr. She wasn't rushing him or pushin him, merely showing the path back to his personality away form the survival instinct his body was still thriving on.

His hand stopped shaking and the blade dropped harmlessly to the side as their lips met, he was home. It was her second kiss, a sweet one, a desperate one, a needed one. Later, it oculd have been an eternity or a millisecond he was never sure, they broke apart. He looked down at her, at her sparkling eyes and glowing circlet and seemed to snap back ot his hellish reality.

He had almost killed her.

He scrambled backwards, away from her. Confusion graced her features. "Rath?"

He winced, he'd hurt her by his reaction. He oculd tell by her voice, a girls first kisses shouldn't be followed by these reactions. He always hurt her, constatnly and now he'd almost killed her. It was time to finish it, save her from the pain he would bring.

She reached out again on her knees, hand outstrethced softly towards him. Imploring him to not push her away. It only served to highlight the ruby drop on her pale neck. Highlighted the hurt he'd caused.

"Just leave, Qaelia. It's over." It was harsh and he hoped she would listen, break him but save herself in the process. No nickname today, nicknames invoked closeness. Soemthing he didn't want, that closeness should be left in the dark cave they founded it in.

Her voice was just as firm. "No Rath."

"I hurt you. Don't you see? I will keep on hurting you day in and day out." He wasn't looking at her, he couldn't bear it.

Her voice was exasperated. "That was an accidnet. I should have known better than to sneak up on you… You're only hurting yourself."

He looked up and met her eyes, feeling the ice in his veins, the cool strength Ozma lent him. His voice reflected that glacial quality. "No. It wasn't an accidnet, that's what you dln't understand. I meant to kill, to remove the threat. Your lucky I stopped. And can you honestly tell me you weren't afraid?"

She looked away.

"Answer the question, Qaelia."

Her eyes blazed back to his. "It wasn't your fault. They made ou that way. Don't you see, Rath, they made you into a cold hearted killing machine for their purposes."

"They made me stronger." It was a roar.

She looked at the blood dripping from wrist, the self inflicted cut boldly emblazoned in red. She continued to speak, letting her eyes leave the red trimmed blade in his hand. 'No Rath, they didn't."

He slammed her into the wall, she looked at him the same compassion still lacing her lilting tones. Noone on Antar had a voice like hers. "They gave you a false exterior, icy cold control because you didn't have any."

He growled at her, hating the truth in her words. Hating that she could see what he tried so hard to hide from everyone including himself. He had no control, he was a time bomb waiting to happen before the training. He hated her for it. They gave him everything, he wouldn't be who he was without their training.

Her eyes bored into his, her words cutting deep. "Then they bound your sou to keep ou their slave forever."

A13. Rath, he'd earned that name. He was nobody's slave. He commanded their forces, they were his slaves. "I am my own master, priestess. I bow down to no one, not even Gods."

Her voice was a challenge, "Then why do you wear their dog tags around your neck?"

He felt the sharp pain of the blade involuntarily running across his wrist. He was in charge, those memories were buried. He'd survived their training. He repeated himself to her, almost like a mantra.

"I am my own master. More than I can say for you, priestess."

He made priestess a deragatory term. He loosened his hold on her. She lauged in his face, a cynical laugh laced with bitter sarcasm. "Face it, Rath. You're a prisoner as much as I am. Prisoner to prophecy, Zan and duty. They used you and now your dying inside."

He turned away feeling the familiar ice in his veins. " I feel nothing, priestess. You would do wel to remember that."

He heard her silence, felt her hurt. It was better this way, he was bound by propechy to antoher. Better to stop this before he fell and it became serious.

Her voice was soft as she moved away. "Lies do not become you Rath. You feel or you woulnd't be upset."

He turned to face her, she was by the door. "I am bound to another, byou Gods' prophecies. You are bound to your Gods."

Pain flashed across her features as though he'd stricken her. She was still just a little girl. Didn't she realize he was fire and when you played with fire you got hurt?

Her voice reached out in one last attempt. "You're afraid to fall-"

His voice was sharp, cutting. "I'm not falling anywere. Now go child, sing your laments."

She ran form the room. He felt surprise at the burning pain. They were just two kids playing with fire who were surprised when they got burnt. He slid back to the ground looking at the blade. He'd won, gotten what he'd accomplished. Then why did this feel so much like losing?

His voice was soft, talking to nobody in particular. "I'm not falling anywhere. I'm already fallen."

TBC


	16. Chapter 11B

Author's Note: Thanks so much for being so patient with me and my schedule. Here is the second part of Ch11 and i want to thank keirah, Magali, Candylovin Fehrian, cutepoison, higherbeingfriendsfan so much for the reviews. Yall have no idea how much motivation those can bring, or how great they can make a day. So muchos gracias.

Collision Part 11B

Michael looked around the Granolith chamber haunted by memories from the past. Memories so strong they threatened to consume him. He struggled against the pull, he was Michael Guerin and wanted to stay that way, not be Rath's walking flashback boy. The cone flashed bright, like wild lightening. It illuminated the room in a complete white cocoon, so that Michael's senses were engulfed, blinded by the light. He struggled but it did no good, he felt himself falling through time. When the white faded he was in the past and he was starting to get the feeling the flashes weren't just Rath that these had been the Granolith. Trying to make him understand.

Rath walked in the Granolith self consciously, holding the foliage Zan had suggested he bring. Funny how even after a huge fight with Zan he still did what he was told. Zan had told him to bring her something beautiful, something that reminded him of her, and that foliage usually fixes everything. So here he was walking into their chamber, as he liked to think of it, clutching a narka from the palace gardens. It was a beautiful richly colored orchid like flower with a blue stem and a variety of bloom colors. Narka were renowned for only blooming according to certain schedules, some only on religious holidays, some according to their keeper's moods and some in danger.

She looked up and saw him, he caught his breath. She was beautiful; her eyes never ceased to amaze him. He stared at her for a long while drinking in the sight with a desperate hunger he couldn't explain. Looking at the flower in his hand he tried to cover up the fact he had been staring at her. An awkward silence engulfed them and he didn't like it.

He thrust his arm, and the narka, forward.

She stared at it, confusing flitting across her features. Then she started laughing. Rath looked at it; he didn't see anything amusing about his flower. Maybe this was wrong? Maybe Zan was an idiot who gave bad advice?

Still giggling she asked, "Rath, where did you get it?"

He gave her an odd look, everyone knew they only grew in the Royal Garden. "The Royal Garden."

She nodded, still mirthful. "Did you pick it yourself?"

He nodded, he had been proud that he'd thought of it. He'd realized picking it himself meant more. "Of course."

She started laughing again and reached out to take it from him. "Was this your first time picking flowers for a girl?"

He nodded again, confused at how she'd been able to tell. Her fingers reached down and brushed some dirt off the bottom. Lifting the flower she showed him the roots.

"Most of the time people cut the flower off, not uproot the whole plant."

Oh. Well that made more sense than his picking. He'd yanked the whole thing from the ground in one fell swoop and had left a big gaping hole in the ground, he'd thought it was slightly odd that there were no other big holes in the ground when he knew the groundskeepers had picked flowers for inside earlier. Then embarrassment came to him and to cover it up he responded to her in anger. "Well if you don't want it, I'll put it back."

She'd embarrassed him and he made a move to grab it back. She pulled it out of his reach. "I'm happy you picked the plant, this way I can plant it and it will still grow on in stead of wild and die. It's a beautiful gesture, Rath."

He nodded, scratching his eyebrow, only she would accept his uprooted plant as a present and cherish it. Vilandra would have turned her nose up at it and asked why he hadn't gotten her a dozen cut flowers. But Q was special, she accepted him and his shortcomings in their relationship, or maybe she didn't know any better. Either way he was grateful.

She leaned over and gave him several loud smacking kisses on his face, which caused him to make a face and lean away. She laughed, and then the room fell into silence with an ominous foreboding settling in around them. They were silent for a few moments and he didn't know where to start after their fight earlier.

"Zan knows." He said it quietly, he wouldn't mention that he'd asked Zan's permission to Granix and had been denied.

Se leaned back looking heavenward, "Then it's over, then."

He reached out for her hand, not willing to accept that alternative. "He doesn't approve but he won't stop me."

Zan had promised him that.

She turned to face him, "Not directly. He'll tell the First Order of the Granolith and I'll be punished and sent away and you'll be killed. Maybe we both will."

He tightened his grip on her hand, not understanding her morbid state. She'd never been like this before, she always said it was worth the risk. He willed her to understand not just with his words but also with his touch. "No he won't. Zan and the First Order don't get along, he doesn't believe in the Gods."

"Doesn't matter." She sounded almost dead.

She was frustrating him, why couldn't she trust Zan? "Q, whose idea do you think the flower was? Certainly not mine."

She looked at him with a small measure of surprise on her face. "Zan's?"

He nodded. She gave him an odd look, one tinged with desperate sadness. A look that said her sadness was inevitable and that she accepted it. "I'll plant the narka and let it grow, representing our what might have been."

"Our what might have been? What are you saying?" He heard the hard edge in his voice and hated it, he was always so demanding. Always on the offensive.

Her eyes met his, for once devoid of all emotion. She was wearing a mask, one she'd learned from him. The coldness looked unnatural and sinister on her sweet face. He'd tarnished her, given her some of his glacial control and hated himself for it. Not everyone should have to be a fighter.

"It's over Rath." Her voice was just as empty, devoid of all the music it usually possessed.

Oddly her words didn't sink in at first, he was wondering at the amount of control it was taking her to be this cold. The amount to shut off her gift shut off her self. She stood.

Then it hit him.

She was ending this. Killing them, ending what had become him,

He stood feeling panic break through his control. This wasn't how it was supposed to happen. He was supposed to give her his ring, his soul and ask her to Granix, but Zan ruined that. Then he was supposed to give her the flower and they would talk and talk about nothing. This was all wrong and he didn't know what to do.

He felt his voice raising in pitch, as it broke free of his throat, "No you can't do this. Why are you so willing to throw this away?"

She looked at him, the iciness breaking. Pain flared on her features. "Maybe because I love you too much. I can't keep putting you, us, in danger and that's what this is. If anyone finds out you'll be executed Rath and this planet needs you. Don't you see that? You're the lynch pin for everything and I'm being selfish."

Anger, it burned him, scalding his control from the inside out.

"Danger never bothered you before, Qaelia. What's the real reason? Is it about today?"

She shook her arm, trying to dislodge the hand he'd unconsciously put there when he'd reached out. He'd grabbed her without realizing it, to keep her close, prolong this moment, if it was their last together forever.

She sighed with a baleful look at the exit he was blocking. Slowly she turned and walked away from him causing impatience to rise up in him. He quashed it down. She stopped at the Granolith cone, she reached out to touch it.

"What do you suppose this room is for, Rath?"

He was confused, this seemed off topic but he sensed it was really part of the answer. Relishing the curious, longing tones her voice held he answered. "A weapon."

She glanced over her shoulder urging him to continue.

He continued on, "Why not? I'm the General and I got the flashes, so I assume it's some sort of weapon because why not show it to a priest."

A small shudder passed through her while he talked about weapons, then she spoke in a voice filled with mystery. "A weapon indeed, just not the way you would think. It's ours you know, you think it's a weapon but do you deny it's from the Gods?"

Still confused but undeniably curious he answered. "No, of course not."

Her voice was quieter an answer to his earlier question. "The oracle is from the gods too. I went there today."

Ah, this is what it was all about, her odd mood, and the attempt to end the liaison

Still with her back to him she talked. 'The oracle showed me a lot of things, Rath, past and future. If we stay together you'll die --".

He cut her off savagely, "We all die sometime. I'm a soldier, Q; death is part of the risk, the job. I never expected to grow old, it's a luxury soldiers don't often have. Besides, that's my decision to make, not yours."

She ignored his outbreak still talking in the same soft far away tones. "We'll both die and Antar will be ruined. You're too important to lose Rath, especially this week."

A shudder ran through him at the thought of her death. He was silent, what could he say? Was their love more important than Antar? More important than the breakthroughs he was making in essence cloning?

She finally turned to face him, eyes black with emotion. "I love you so much, more than you'll ever know. But we can't be together, not now maybe not ever."

He looked past her at the Granolith willing his eyes to stop darkening, holding his law tight in a futile effort to control the pain of his emotions.

The Granolith looked so bright; it seemed to shine and sparkle so intently he couldn't stop himself from reaching out to touch it. It drew him towards it. Entranced he felt pure sweet energy flow into him. Energy made up of stardust and nightfire, oceans and comets. Energy for the taking and using. Still without his own control he touched the plant she held, letting the energy flow through him. Through his emotions, his fears, his world, his desires and into the plant. It glowed blue softly. Slowly the energy ceased and the blue glow faded leaving only the regular blue of the plant.

He felt himself coming back to control. He wasn't alone; words came with him, divine guidance.

"Take it and plant the narka. When it blooms come back to me, it's been blessed by the Gods."

She stared at the plant for a long moment, then at him. Impulsively she hugged the plant. "You realize that in a way this means the Gods approve of us? I had no idea you were so strong, you had the pure energy of the Gods, of creation, flow through you. Almost nobody can do that, only the very strongest Chosen and even then they experience power burnout and are extremely weak for days after. It has something to do with the energy being too pure; it fights their own, its energy not meant for mortals to be able to handle. But you, you're still standing."

She was fascinated he could tell. But in all honesty he'd never felt better. He felt rejuvenated, strong, the energy felt similar to his own, merging and flowing with his own personal power. Easy to control and it seemed to wake something him. Not knowing how to explain his exalted state he merely shrugged. "Can't you do that?"

She shook her head; "I've never tried. I'm not gifted so the priest's haven't tried to directly link me to Them and They haven't done it on their own."

He could tell she was ashamed by it, every Chosen tried at least once. Reaching out he brushed the hair off her face. "Don't fret, my pet. We've been blessed and we have a magic plant to tell us when we are free."

Joy lifted her features casting a radiant glow on her. Letting her pureness of soul and emotion shine through. Hope giving her a beautiful smile. "Till then."

"Till then, blessed one. And don't accidentally kill the plant, OK?"

Her laughter echoed back to him.

Michael still heard the echoes of that laughter all around him, faintly. He smiled and wondered if that plant was still blooming somewhere.

Glancing down at his watch he realized it was time to head to Maria's. Which was a good thing because he wanted to come back here with Maria and share it with her, and he needed to tell the group. Slowly he left.

…………………………….

Kyle and Alex had been standing in Maria's street for a very long time by now. They were still trying to figure out where Kyle's car had gone, As much as Alex had thought that Kyle just rode with someone else and was imagining it, it still didn't change the fact that Kyle was standing there with his car keys but no car. Many hours earlier they had had a conversation.

Alex had stared at the keys dangling from Kyle's hand and finally believed him. Making up his mind and seeing a chance to do something he'd always wanted to do he began to talk. "I think this is a job for the Scooby Gang."

Kyle grinned, "Or the Alex and Kyle mini Scooby Gang. Because I really want my car back and don't have time to wait around for the rest."

Alex nodded, Kyle had ranted and raved earlier showing a very nasty temper as the smashed coke cans had found out. "First things first. We assess the situation and begin looking for clues then narrow down the suspects."

Tess's head had popped up from where she was lying on the lawn a few feet away, "We already know the situation. Somebody stole Kyle's car. And I want to be in the mini Scooby Gang. So it can be Tess, Alex and Kyle mini Scooby Gang."

Kyle shrugged, "Fine by me but I want my name first. Whatever it's schematics. Come over here alien girl and do your mind thing while Alex and I look for physical clues."

Kyle walked over and squatted down by the tread marks in the street, carefully examining them he recognized them as matching his Mustang. "Tread marks are consistent with the Mustang."

Alex was staring intently at the ground not far away, "Jinkies!"

Kyle got up to wander over to Alex to see what he had found with a cursory glance at Tess who had her eyes squeezed shut. Alex stood up holding what appeared to be a small shiny object. Examining it closely they realized there was some sort of adhesive agent on the back. Alex looked at Kyle, "Any idea what it is?"

"Looks girly. Like those little shiny things they have on their clothes."

Alex gave him an odd look. "You pay attention to what girls wear shiny stuff?"

"Buddha teaches one to appreciate beauty, I happen to find shiny objects pretty. We should ask Tess what it is."

They looked to Tess who had just opened her eyes, she smiled at them and said. "Jinkies! I know who took your car."

Kyle stalked over to Tess, "Who?"

A troubled look crossed her face, "An alien. Isabel."

Alex shook his head in disbelief. "No way. Besides she was in the house with us. Wasn't she?"

Kyle and Tess looked at each other, Alex was being biased. Tess spoke, "Does anyone remember her saying anything after we went inside, or seeing her?"

Kyle thought about it, he was sitting near Tess and was pretty preoccupied with that. But he didn't remember her saying anything or raising her hand when the alien question came up. Slowly he shook his head, not liking the direction that this was going in.

Alex's face was scrunched up in concentration trying to remember any detail that was Isabel related. It should have been easy, he always seemed to be on hyperawareness when she was around. He came up blank. Sullenly he said, "No."

Tess sighed, "Me either."

Alex asked, "Could it have been another alien, who is trying to make us think it was Isabel?"

He was grasping at straws and knew it, but he couldn't fathom a reason why Isabel would take Kyle's car and leave at a time like this. Tess gave him a pitying look, "I don't think so, we each have our own personal signature. But are there any other clues to be absolutely positive?"

Kyle held out the small sparkly object he'd grabbed from Alex earlier. Tess reached out to examine it. She sighed, "A rhinestone, Isabel had them all over her purse. One must have fallen off."

Alex, still trying to defend her piped up. "But doesn't everyone have those purses. It could have been someone else.."

He trailed off realizing how stupid he sounded. Kyle patted him on the back and Tess shot him a soft smile. "So what do we do now?"

"We wait."

So they waited for hours, still examining the scene at Alex's behest for some small clue that it wasn't Isabel or that she wasn't in her right mind. Tess had gone back to lying in the lawn, finally she popped her head back up.

"Guys, I don't think she's coming back. Let's go wait for her at her house."

"Sounds good to me." Kyle was amiable enough, especially since the Evans always gave out food like they ran a homeless shelter.

"Fine, but how are we gonna get there? I rode with Liz and Max, and you rode with Kyle."

"Well, Alex. We walk. It's not that far."

Alex groaned, Kyle grinned. "Buddha promotes physical exercise to balance the mind. Come on young grasshoppers."

Tess whacked him as they walked down the street. When they got to the Evans they were informed that Isabel wasn't home yet but that they could wait and did they want a snack?

Kyle graciously accepted the snack on behalf of all. Leaning over the kitchen table a little while later he whispered to Alex, "Scooby snacks."

Tess rolled her eyes, "I've never seen Scooby doo, so I don't really now what you are talking about."

The boys jaws hung open in shock, "No Scooby? What kind of depraved childhood did you have?"

Alex was adamant. Kyle smiled at her, "I'll show you the way to enlightenment. We'll watch it at home."

She smiled somewhat shyly at him, "I'd like that."

Before Alex had the opportunity to gag the door flew open and there stood a disheveled Isabel. Kyle's face hardened.

Mrs. Evans' voice floated through the kitchen, "Isabel you have company. Why don't you all go on upstairs."

Isabel nodded, looking worried and they all silently went upstairs. Once in her room there was an awkward, stony silence. Tess tried to smooth things over, "I'll get the door."

After she shut the door, Kyle exploded. "Why did you take my car? What were you thinking running off like that? You could have asked, but no you stole Big Red and had me flipping out."

She waved her hands helplessly, "Kyle, I'm sorry."

Alex's voice was hard, "Sorry doesn't cut it, Isabel."

"I know. I know, I just really needed it."

Tess's voice was soft, "Where did you go Isabel."

Isabel was silent for a few moments trying to decide what to tell them. "What happened with Michael and Mrs. DeLuca?"

Alex looked at her disgusted. "Don't change the subject Isabel. Where did you go?"

"To help a friend."

Tess sounded annoyed, "Isabel you have to tell us more than that. This isn't optional."

Isabel snapped back, "This isn't your business."

Kyle cut in before Tess could, seeing the slightly hurt expression on her face. "Well it became my business the moment you took my car. So I want answers."

She looked at him, "I'm sorry, Kyle. I can't tell you yet, I will, but not yet. I'm not sure about how it will play out yet."

Alex stood up, "Thanks for a lot of nothing, Isabel. I hope you know what you're doing because your pushing away your family and we can only help."

His words stung and he walked out leaving her behind. Isabel had never thought she could lose Alex's support but apparently she was wrong, battle lines were being drawn and she wasn't sure what side she wanted to be on. But Nicholas had asked her not to tell anyone about him yet so she would honor that promise.

Tess looked at her sadly, "Michael went to the station and Mrs.DeLuca knows about us, if you care."

Then she left. Her loss hurt Isabel keenly as well, she was the closest thing to a sister Isabel had. Finally only Kyle was left.

"Where's my car?"

"Your house." She said miserably.

"Buddha once said be careful of the path you walk because there is no going backwards. So chose your allies carefully, Isabel."

Then he was gone as well.

She sat on her bed staring at the wall for a long time, she was tearing her friends apart. Separating herself from her family, and it hurt. It was like the last life she knew, and secrets only hurt everyone. Her fingers touched the necklace under her shirt and she remembered the words, 'Never forget what you love the most."

She loved her family more than anything did, but she also loved answers. Which would she have to chose?

……………………………………..

"Maria, honey, where do you and Michael stand?"

Her mother meant well, but at that moment her voice, the question, grated on Maria's nerves. She just wanted to be out of the Jetta, at home in her bed where she could pretend her life hadn't changed. "I don't know, Mom. It's all happened so fast. Why didn't you tell me he came to watch me at night?"

Her mother sighed and drummed her fingers on the steering wheel. "Because it wasn't my place, if he'd had wanted you to know he would have told you. I didn't think it would help anything."

Maria nodded, she'd pretty much known. "Mom, do you like Michael? I mean even with the alien stuff?"

"Honestly? I'm confused about him, I know he's dangerous to you but I can't forget him being my little wrestler. I can't seem to stop myself from trusting him with you, maybe it's the way he watched you over summer or maybe its because your bound and part of me always knew I would lose you to him. In the end it doesn't matter if I like him or not, he's apparently your destiny. But to tell the truth Maria, I'm quite fond of your rebel, but don't let it get out. It might ruin my reputation with him."

She laughed, her mother was odd but always knew a lot more than she let on. She also knew that her mother would always be there for Michael, like offering him to stay at their house. Her mom pulled the Jetta into the driveway and they got out. They went inside.

"Maria why don't you water the houseplants, they look pitiful. I'll make dinner while you're at it."

"OK, Mom." She'd always loved the plants her mother kept around. They were comforting and seemed to make everything seem all right somehow.

Picking up the little watering can she walked around the house beginning to water them. She let her mind begin to wander.

The room was dark, it had been for days now. After she'd left him she couldn't tolerate the light anymore. She couldn't handle anything. At first she still occasionally saw him at the palace, he seemed fine. Then he transferred away to work on his cloning and she began to lose her appetite. A week later she had stopped eating all together, that was a week and a half ago. She'd tried to keep living but all she felt was deadness, emptiness. She'd tried singing happy songs but they all came out as ballads. Then she'd changed to laments. Eventually she'd stopped singing at all, and then she'd stopped talking. That was a week ago.

The only thing she did faithfully anymore was take care of her plant, water it faithfully and watch it for hours on end. Nothing ever happened. The First Order had tried to take it away from her, believing it to be the cause of her misery. She'd promptly slit her wrist, an unconscious gesture she'd learned from Rath when he was upset about his training, when they attempted to take it by force. They'd let her keep it.

Her eyes shifted to the mirror on the wall, she was ghastly thin, looking almost like a ghost. Looking as dead as she felt inside, her eyes were dull. The only thing that stood out was her skin, rubbed red like water, from the purification ritual she'd undergone that day. The First Order had thought she had a demon feasting on her soul and made her undergo a purification ritual to cleanse her, to bring her back to life they said. They didn't understand that her life had ended, was in stalemate until her narka bloomed. She spent her days staring at it or floating around the palace, down hallways looking for something. Searching for him, for anything to chase away the emptiness that engulfed her. She felt as though her soul had been ripped out, even though they hadn't Granixed.

Her transmitter abruptly flared to life. Startled but not perturbed she turned to watch it. There was an anchor interviewing a man about something. Her eyes focused, it was Rath. Looking the same, if a bit of deadness filled his eyes. The anchor's voice carried to her through the transmitter, "So General, the word is that you and your scientists have perfected the art of cloning essences. So does this mean we'll have reincarnated leaders running around all over the place."

Rath's voice was dead, but she still cherished the sound. "No, that would be unwise. We've mastered the art, not perfected it but it is not a matter to be taken lightly. This could be a very dangerous object."

"So what is it worth?"

Rath turned an icy glare on the anchor. " How do you value your life? This is worth more than anyone can spare."

The anchor coughed nervously and ended the transmittance. She almost smiled but couldn't bring herself to, the cloud of darkness around her was too deep. He had completed his goal, the one that the oracle had said he wouldn't if they were together. He was safe and living. It was all she could ask for.

A light flared from the direction of her plant, she turned to see. This was the most activity she'd had in days. Her plant was glowing and growing. She watched as a single bud formed and then opened revealing a rainbow colored bloom. Then another and another.

It had been a moon cycle, a rotation and 3 hours, 4 minutes and 12 seconds and it had been hell. But it bloomed and they were free. It kept blooming, it always would until their death and maybe beyond.


	17. Chapter 12

Author's Note: Thanks for all the reviews! I figured I'd try something new with answering the questiosn here instead of replying to each one separately. Let me know if you like it better.

Keirah: Thanks! I've been trying to use alot of detail to really bring what's happening across.

Candylovin Fehrian: I'm happy you like Tess and Mrs.DeLuca. I actually wrote more of htem in this chapter because of hte positive feedback I've been getting on their characters! Yep the flower is blooming, it's time for a bit of happiness!

spaceboi's pixie: wow! thanks! I'm happy your liking their past lives and the scooby thing and not feeling Isabel. She's not exactly using all of her brain cells right now!

higherbeingfriendsfan: Happy you like the scooby crew and that your noticing all of hte parallels between their two lives. It's one of hte big motifs, i guess would be the right word, in this fic along with history always repeating itself.

crazysnape: Thanks for the review! I always love hearing from new people, and I'm happy you like my past version of Maria and Michael :) though i do prefer the present too!

All right kids, here we go! As always i thank y'all for you feedback and cherish it!

Part 12 "Valiant"

_ There's a special place inside my skull   
Where your DNA it codes my cerebrum   
In full stuttering and drooling   
My shredded throat will try to sing for you  
"Valiant" The Spill Canvas_

Isabel found herself on the dream-plane with a large soap bubble, Victor's dreams. She whistled, calling the bubble to her, expanding it until she could step through it. She stepped through it, wary of what she might find and wary that she might be found.

It was dark; the type of darkness so complete that she knew the sun had never existed in this place. Disturbed she looked around to try and find the dreamer and like a stage all the lights came on with electronic clicks illuminating the set and its player. It seemed like a cave with rough, rocky walls and the slow steady drip of water dropping from stalagmites to stalactites. The sound reminded her of Chinese water torture and that deeply bothered her. Something rattled the sound from fairy tales and nightmares. The sound of ghosts rattling their chains.

Startled she looked around to find the source of the sound. She had found Victor at last. He was gaunt, weary and scared. He was chained to a wall not far from a gated entrance. As if sensing her presence he began to ramble in a hysterical high-pitched voice. "Help! Somebody please help me or kill me or both. I'm trapped, prisoner in my own mind. Help an alien has my body."

He began to sob uncontrollably. Isabel looked at him pityingly; he was definitely a human living in a nightmare. But what was he talking about an alien? She turned to go but abruptly his sobs ceased and he began to lament again.

"He trapped me here and used me to hurt Maria, I just thought she was pretty and nice and he used that to get in and hurt her. Somebody stop the cycle and free me.."

He kept going until his voice dissolved into screams. Isabel was disturbed to say the least but was beginning to understand his situating, having pieced it together from his rantings. Victor had been attracted to Maria and Fonbar somehow used his attraction to gain access of his mind and body. Disturbing, it was very disturbing to think that our own wants and desires can be turned against us. It made her think of Nicholas, though she didn't know exactly why. That unsettled her and Isabel decided to be on her guard around him and to guard her mind and watch her words carefully.

She turned away from the pitiful sight Victor had become towards the gated cave entrance. Peering through the rails she looked out. It was a beautiful Antarian night. The night sky was pure indigo with diamonds speckled throughout and shooting stars racing across the sky. The three sisters shone bright in gold, silver and copper shades. Isabel sighed at the beauty feeling its calming effect and its stirring effect on Vilandra. Realization dawned on her, this is an alien's dream, Fonbar's dream. Looking closer she realized two scenes were taking place. Softly she stepped through the bars, as if they weren't even there and walked over to the first scene to investigate it.

It was unnervingly real, the kind of realness that only came from a memory. A memory that has been committed with every single detail intact, the kind of memory that haunts its owner. The memory was set outside and he was following someone carrying a cloak in his hands. It was tinged with an aura of hatred and rage, the kind that holds on and haunts long after an event has occurred. Isabel had the unnerving feeling that Fonbar knew he was dreaming, had dreamed it many times before, and knew the inevitable outcome but was powerless to stop it.

Shaking those thoughts from her head she focused on the girl she was following, letting Fonbar'' feelings wash over her. He was worried about her, she hadn't eaten or talked for weeks and now was sneaking off in the middle of the night. He wanted to protect her, stop the self-pity and he loved her. He loved her so blindly so strongly that it overcast every move he made, every thought he took. She'd forgotten her cloak so he'd set out after her not wanting her to be cold, but then curiosity had gotten the better of him and he'd decided to see what she was up to.

She walked gracefully, silently like an elf through the forest. Her feet barely touched the ground and no twigs or the breeze caught on her or stirred her clothing. She was abominably thin, the type of slenderness that should invoke feelings of death but invoked Ghandi instead. Her lilac hair shimmered in the moonlight as it floated out like a crown of clouds from her.

Isabel moved forward, leaving Fonbar behind to see her face. Needing to see it. It held an odd mixture of emotions, emotions so pure they almost hurt to look at. There was serenity, desperate longing, and insecurity of the event and most of all eagerness. Her eyes were like tow almond mirrors, the eyes, Isabel knew of a Chosen. Maria, or who she once was, Isabel realized. There were similarities in the way she held her face and the expression she wore, though Maria never wore it so openly, it was the expression Maria often wore when going to see Michael after a fight. Smiling softly as the thought of things not changing for the two of them Isabel fell back to Fonbar.

The girl, for that's truly all she was; barely more than a child, slipped through a hidden walkway down to the gardens by the lake. Fonbar stopped in the bushes to watch in secrecy. She stood silently looking out over the water for what seemed like forever and a second simultaneously. A crack of a twig and she was turning around and throwing herself into the arms of the newcomer. She clutched at him desperately and he her. Isabel could feel Fonbar's anxiety growing about the identity of the mystery man. After a long while he lifted his head and Isabel nearly screamed as Fonbar's feelings rushed over her, the betrayal, the overwhelming rage and the searing hatred. The cloak in his hands turned to ash and Isabel stared at Rath, the man she was once meant to marry. She stared as he stroked the girl's face softly murmuring her name and the girl's eyes burned black. Her voice was still pure liquid gold after weeks without use.

"Rath.. Rath, I've missed you so much." While she spoke her fingers stroked the hard places of his face wonderingly.

He pulled her away from him to get a better look. Shaking his head he said, "And I you, your so small. You haven't been ill have you?"

She shook her head, closing the distance between them and talked into his chest. "I just missed you so much I couldn't bring myself to eat."

Fonbar's hands were clenched in fists and Isabel wondered at the kind of love that could do that to a person. Something so intense, so deep that they couldn't exist without the other, withering away into nothing. It scared her.

He shook his head in wonder, his face held such a look of tenderness and openness that Isabel was amazed. Michael had never looked like that and Rath had certainly never looked at her that way.

His voice was clear, crushing all of Fonbar's hopes of denial.

"I love you and now were free to be together and live a long happy life."

The words sent a pang of sadness through Isabel, they never would get the long happy life. Instead frozen in youth, left to become legend and hauntings of another life.

The girl smiled and it radiated with her joy, her peal of laughter was filled with such happiness that Isabel nearly cried. Perhaps in joy, perhaps in sadness because she knew the ending of this beautiful story.

Their lips met and she felt Fonbar's heart break into a million shards that cut him over and over again, cut him for an eternity. Are still cutting him today. The scene broke into angry chunks and faded away leaving a residue of pain in its wake. Saddened and apprehensive she turned to watch the second scene.

Maria was there this time, but not just Maria, she seemed to be a cross between the two identities. The ears were the elongated, pointed Antarian ears and her hair was much longer, falling in wild curls to her hips but was still the same golden shade. It was Maria's face but her eyes held the same mirrored sheen over the familiar green.

She was sitting gracefully perched on one of the counter stools at the Crashdown. He walked in wearing Victor's body and she beamed at him, her words flowing like honey. "What took you so long?"

He smiled at her leaning down to press his lips against her cheek in a chaste kiss. "I had some things to take care of, some obstacles to eliminate so that we could be together."

Sweetness showed in her gaze, "What kind of obstacles?"

He stroked her hair softly, "Nothing for you to worry about, once his gone you'll be released and your true feelings will show. You love me don't you?"

She was silent a moment, a look of confusion clouding the clarity of her eyes. He looked hard at her and the confusion left. "Of course, you're the only one for me."

He smiled adoringly at her, "That's my puppet."

The twisted Maria thing giggled softly motioning towards the kitchen, "Of course, anything you want?"

"Only you." He bent to kiss her and as the kiss in his dream went on Isabel left, not wanted to see it.

Isabel opened her eyes to see Max sitting on her bed with a worried look on his face, "You OK? You were out for a long time."

Shaking her head to clear it she sat up, the images remained. He handed her a glass of water and she took several sips gratefully before answering. "Fine. He'' not alien, well kind of."

Isabel shook her head again, "He's human but he's possessed by an alien, locked in his own mind."

Max nodded, "What did you see? Oh by the way we're all meeting at the DeLuca's for breakfast tomorrow."

She had to stop herself form rolling her eyes, "What are we, the Breakfast Club? I'll tell you all tomorrow, it's been a long day and I really need some sleep."

He nodded standing, "All right. Sleep tight, Iz."

"Night, Max."

……………………

Michael walked quietly up to the DeLuca home, he wondered briefly whether he should ring the doorbell or just unlock it. He decided on just unlocking it, so carefully he put his hand over the lock and moved the bolt. Opening the door he quietly stepped inside and relocked the door. He walked into the living room to find Mrs.DeLuca sitting in a chair drinking a mug of tea. She glanced at the clock, "Cutting it a little close aren't you?"

He glanced at it, 10:25, shrugging he replied, "I'm here on time."

She nodded towards the couch pull out bed, "I pulled the couch out for you and put some fresh sheets on."

Feeling awkward he attempted a smile, "Thanks, Mrs.DeLuca."

Her eyes pierced his, "Sit down for a minute, Michael. I want to have a little chat."

Swallowing he sat down, well out of range of a whacking hand. "OK."

Something very akin to amusement flickered in her eyes at his choice of seat, "I can still throw you know."

He gulped even more loudly, not having thought of that. She laughed. "No attacks, I promise. Now I want to know how you feel about my daughter."

Oh God, could this get any worse? This was pretty much one of his worst nightmares, he glanced towards the door. But he'd already decided that there was no more running, so he'd settle for honesty. "I, um, I… uh have serious intentions towards her?"

If possible she seemed even more amused. "You tell me, though I hope these are age appropriate serious intentions."

"Of course, ma'am." He replied without missing a beat.

She set her mug of tea down on the coffee table, "I had Maria when I was 16, Michael. I don't know if she ever told you that or not. So I'll tell you right now. It was hard, but I wouldn't give her up for anything to anyone. I didn't have any of your excuses of destiny or being bound or whatever it is the two of you are but I'm telling you I wont accept those as excuses. Love her all you want but do it from a distance until you're ready to have a baby and take care of it, because you don't have a say. And if you don't listen to me use protection, now I put Maria on the pill when she turned 14 but that isn't enough. But if you know what's good for you you'll keep that… that penguin of yours in your pants and far away from my daughter. Love her and take care of her, but if you ever hurt her I swear to God and your Gods that I will hunt you down and kill you."

He was red, blushing and burning up. He was sure he'd never been this red before, this thoroughly embarrassed before in his life. It was horrible, mortifying, and if any of the guys ever found out about this conversation they would howl in laughter. He sat there staring at her open mouthed until he finally realized that she wanted a response.

"I have no intention of hurting her, ever. I'll definitely be keeping _that_ away. Far away, very far away."

She smiled, picking up her tea she walked over to him. "That's my boy. You're a good kid Michael, don't ever think you don't deserve her. Now have a good night."

And of al things she reached down and wiped some dirt off his cheek and gave him a pat on the same cheek. One of the most motherly moments he'd ever experienced. His eyes were suddenly kind of tight.

"You too, Mrs. DeLuca."

"Call me Amy." And then she was gone.

He stood up slowly, in wonder, and decided to go down to Maria's room to tell her about the Granolith. Her door was shut, he slowly opened it.

It was dark inside and he could hear the heavy deep breathing that indicated sleep. Regardless he walked into the room, walking over to the bed he looked at her. Tousled hair all, body all tangled up in the sheets with the covers kicked off all over the place. A little stuffed alien hanging from her hand over the bed and a look of peace on her face. Softly he picked up the cover and tucked it back around her gently. Even gentler he reached down to brush the hair from her face, pushing it back over her shoulder. He stared at her for a moment, debating about whether to wake her to tell her or not. Thinking she would just get angry he decided against it, there was no reason to break her peace.

Smoothing the covers one last time he turned to go. He stopped dead at the figure leaning in the doorway.

"I was just coming to check on her, seems though I was beat to it."

He nodded dumbly and walked quietly out the door, taking one last look. He shut it softly behind him he felt as though he needed to explain himself to her mother. "She kicked her covers off."

Her mom smiled wistfully, "She always does."

He nodded not knowing what to say then turned to go. He got halfway down the hallway before her voice stopped him. "Michael, promise me something?"

He turned back, "What?"

Amy looked wistful, the kind of look that parents have when they know they've lost their children to another. "Promise me you'll always tuck her in again after she's kicked the covers off. I don't want her to catch a cold."

He nodded, understanding that she meant in the future. Accepting the blessing she was offering him, "Always."

……………………

"OK, who wants what kind?" Amy DeLuca cheerfully asked the assembled group she had stuffed in her dining nook.

"Chocolate chip!" Kyle nearly screamed in anticipation because everyone knew Mrs.DeLuca was an amazing cook, after all she made the Crashdown's pies.

"Alien Special." Said Tess. Max, Michael and Isabel all nodded in agreement. The Alien special was Michael's mix, chocolate chip and Tobasco sauce.

"Blueberry, please" Alex grinned thinking of the many mornings when they were younger and Amy had asked the same question.

Mrs.DeLuca gave him a fond smile before turning to Liz, "Plain, please."

She ignored Kyle's snort of disgust. Amy turned towards the Sheriff, "What about you, Jim?"

"I'll go with Alex, blueberry sounds marvelous, Amy." She smiled and gave a small laugh.

For short time chaos ensued while pancakes were made, drinks poured and the table set. Once everyone was settled with food and a few books for last minute test studying, then the conversation turned to the important matters. Kyle let out a groan of pleasure as the chocolate chip pancakes melted in his mouth.

Liz started, "We checked Victor's blood but couldn't get a positive alien or no alien test so we asked Isabel to dreamwalk him."

All eyes turned towards Isabel, she took a deep breath and began to talk. "Victor is human but he's a prisoner in his own mind, It's horrible; he's chained to a wall in a dirty cave while this Fonbar character has control of his body. He's possessed. Victor was attracted to Maria and Fonbar somehow used this and gained entry to his mind."

She stopped to give Michael a glare to silence his growl and impending interruption. Then primly she continued on, "Anyway, Fonbar is totally obsessed with you, Maria and he totally hates Michael. It's really creepy I saw him following you on Antar and seeing you two together."

An unreadable look passed between Maria and Michael.

"Then I saw some weird little fantasy he has of you, but a mix between you and Q and it's like he wants to control you. His mind is like a Maria shrine."

Maria sounded annoyed and threw up her hands, "What is it with you people and shrines?"

She got a lot of odd looks, "Courtney has a Michael shrine in her closet."

"Shut up, Maria." Michael nearly growled it, the annoyance choking his voice. For once Maria was quiet though Amy pursed her lips but didn't say anything to either teen.

"Anything you want to share Michael?" Max had a hard edge to his voice now at the tension in the air.

Sounding very pleased with himself Michael began to talk, "Actually, Yeah I do. I found the Granolith."

Silverware clattered to the table.

Kyle seeing an advantage of the distraction made a move. Taking his advantage he attempted to take Maria's barely eaten chocolate chip pancakes. He was stopped by Michael's fork pinning his arm to the table by his sleeve.

Everyone stared at the quivering fork that had been brutally stabbed into the table. Kyle sheepishly looked up into Michael's angry glare.

"Leave Maria's food alone."

Kyle responded petulantly, "She's not eating it. Buddha says not to waste."

Michael's glare didn't lessen, "Leave it alone, Maria eat your food."

Mara glared at him then dropped her silverware on the table and stood up, scraping her chair loudly across the ground. She walked away with out a word back towards her bedroom leaving a silent table in her wake.

Michael watched her go then threw down his own silverware violently and made an even louder noise with his chair and stalked after her. Amy with one concerned look at the back of her house, probably thinking of the shaking their last argument caused, turned brightly to the group, "Who wants more pancakes?"

"What's your problem, Maria?" He asked angrily staking in her room. He didn't have time to put up with shit. For once he was in the spotlight for doing something good and she had ruined it with this.

She was sitting on the bed, she stood up. "My problem, Michael? What's your problem? You're treating me like a dog, something you own. 'Shut up, Maria.' 'Eat your food, Maria'."

Her mimic was almost dead on, he glared and opened his mouth to retort but she beat him to it. "Oh by the way, thanks for telling me about the Granolith before hand. I mean it's not like its important to me or anything, or that I got stabbed over it."

He ran his hand through his hair in frustration, "I came into tell you last night but you were already asleep."

She just looked at him, "and?"

He gave hr an angry look, "And what? I didn't want to wake you, I figured you needed the sleep after yesterday. And you obviously didn't get enough of it since your acting like such a bitch this morning. The world doesn't revolve around you, Maria."

"No it revolves around you, doesn't it? It has too, you can't stand it any other way."

He shook his head, "Just save it for somebody who cares, Maria. I'm sick of this."

He watched the hurt glance across her face then get shoved behind a mask. He inwardly sighed, he really needed to learn to manage his temper better.

"Fine, just get out Michael and don't come back. Shouldn't be too hard since you don't care and all."

He just stood there staring at her, he wouldn't leave it like this. Not this time, not after he'd seen how precious time was, how it can end whether you're on good terms or not. She motioned towards the door and he still stood there staring at her.

"It showed me so many things, Maria. I wanted to take you there, just the two of us before I took the group. But now I'm not so sure that would be a good idea." His voice was calm, slightly filled with the pain of those memories.

"What do you mean by that?" Her voice had the edge of a razor, sharpened by her pain at the statement.

He ran his hand through his hair with a sigh and sat down on her bed. "C'mere."

He patted the stop next to him while he talked. Hesitantly she sat, still with tense muscles. He turned to face her at an angle, so that both of their faces were all planes and shapes. The angle where you could see everything or nothing, depending on the wearer's skills of hiding emotion. "Just listen, OK? I really need for you to hear me out without going judgmental or interrupting."

Confused but utterly curios she nodded. He took a deep breath looking for the right words to begin with. "We've been through a lot together, you and I, and half the time you have me so worked up I can barely see straight."

Maria felt her heart constrict; as though he had reached in with an iron fist and was squeezing her heart. It hurt, the anxiety, the inevitability of his next words. She knew with absolute certainty that he was ending it, ending lifetimes worth of struggle because she wasn't good enough, she was damaged goods. He was leaving, like everyone else had left her; her father, her Gods, him in another time.

He gave her a wry smile as if sensing her thoughts, the very smile she'd always loved for its rare appearances. "But no matter how loud we're yelling it doesn't change the fact that you understand me. What I'm trying to say without words or gestures, and that you care enough to want to see the real me. I was at the Granolith for a long time and it showed me things, stupid things, beautiful things. And after a while I actually got the message, we wasted so much time fighting this last time and we suffered so much for it. I don't want that to happen again so I guess what I'm trying to say is I want to give this a try."

He took her hand, peering anxiously inter her face for her response. Maria felt her heart constrict even more if that was actually possible. Relief flooded over her, he actually wanted her, wanted to be with her. She felt tears fill her eyes and looked away, but there was one thing she had to know. "For us?"

He knew what she meant, for them or because they were bound. He smirked, "For us, Michael and Maria. They had their chance and they blew it, so it's our turn."

She smiled at him squeezing his hand, not feeling the fear or disgust she'd thought she'd feel at the physical contact.

"Will you still take me to the Granolith?"

For once they agreed on something, "Tonight after school."

"I have work, so do you for that matter."

He made a face, "After work then. Though you know I don't want you working, you're still hurt.'

She made a face right back at him, "Well I am so deal. Besides you'll be there to handle anything."

He nodded moving his face closer to hers, "always there."

She smiled feeling anticipation light up her stomach.

Knock. Knock.

"Anyone alive in there?" It was the Sheriff's strident voice coming through the door. Lucky thing to, because if it had been anyone else, especially Kyle, bodily harm would have been involved.

Michael moved away, the spell was broken, he moment lost. "We're fine."

"Good, then you can come back to breakfast and tell us where the Granolith s."

"Coming." Michael stood and extended his hand, Maria took it. And somewhere, somewhen, Rath extended his hand and Q took it.

……………………………….

Max walked into the bathroom. He took care of his business and went to wash his hands, he glanced to the left. He found Michael in his usual 3rd period spot of sitting on the bathroom counter with his head down. Thinking about English and deciding that he could miss it he hopped up on the counter opposite Michael.

Michael glanced up, "The Great Max Evans skipping?"

Max shrugged, a smile playing around the corners of his mouth. "Yeah well even the great need a break from Shakespeare some time."

Michael smirked at him, just short of a grin. The smirk that said we're on the same page and understand each other completely. Max used to see that smirk a lot when they were younger, but lately it hadn't been showing as often. Though that smirk had gotten them in enough trouble when they were kids. "Whatcha thinking about, Michael?"

"Did you know Paulie talked to Maria in here the other day? I was so pissed when I found out, I literally wanted to kill him, but apparently he was chill. So it reminded me of when we were kids."

Max grinned full out this time, "You mean the water balloons. That was the best first day of school ever."

Michael grinned back, an evil grin. "Yeah, fourth grade. I got in so much trouble though, but not you. To this day nobody even knows you were involved."

Max shrugged, "I ran away faster. You decided to stay and gloat."

"Nah, you were afraid to get pounded."

Max turned slightly red, it was true. He decided to switch topics, "How are you holding up?"

Michael just shrugged.

Max knew not to push, they sat for a few minutes in silence.

Abruptly Michael broke the silence, "You and Liz back together yet?"

Max wasn't sure if Michael was asking because he actually cared or because he needed a distraction from his thoughts. Regardless of the reason Max answered, "Hasn't really been time to talk about it."

"BS. Your still scared, grow some balls Maxwell."

That annoyed Max, he wasn't exactly one to talk. "I wouldn't talk, things aren't exactly perfect between you and Maria either."

Michael sighed and leaned his head back against the wall, looking up towards the ceiling. "Girls are so difficult."

"Amen to that. Yet we keep doing whatever it takes to keep them."

Michael looked at Max, understanding again. But something about that look, about that understanding of the last part made Max shiver. Michael had done whatever it took, once. He felt himself slipping backwards to another conversation, another time.

They were sitting on the training room floor after a long bout of sparring. Rath insisted that Zan keep training even though he was King, because you never knew when your guards would fail. Guards could be bribed after all. He was exhausted and looked across at Rath, leaning up against the wall. Just as tired, but looking preoccupied.

"Anything on your mind, Rath?"

Rath turned those troubled eyes to him, you could only see the trouble in them if you knew where to look. "I need to tell you something, Zan."

Worry gnawed his stomach, Rath usually didn't use that unsure tone with him. He was always sure of the outcome. Maybe the colonies hadn't been such a bright idea. "OK. Nothing wrong with our borders?"

Rath shook his head, "No, nothing like that. It's more personal."

Now he was really worried, the only time Rath talked personal was when Zan pushed him. "Ah. Shoot."

Rath sounded even more unsure, "I want to be released from the engagement."

Zan nodded, he'd heard such things. "I've heard the rumors about you taking a lover. But why be hasty about the engagement? So who is it?"

Rath's face hardened in what could have been fear or anger. "There's rumors? I'll have to take care of that. "

Silence fell again. Curiosity was burning up Zan, who could it be. "You don't have to be embarrassed, Rath. Who is it?"

Rath looked away from him, leaning his head back against the wall, looking up at the sky. "I'm in deep, Zan. I want to Granix with her."

Zan felt the breath leave him in a whoosh, he wasn't expecting this. Rath had always been casual and discreet about his women, nothing serious, very little attachment on his part. This was big, big enough to want out of his engagement for. Big enough to want to bypass a duty. He was angry with him, Rath wasn't supposed to fall in love. But at the same time he was jealous and happy, to love someone enough to want to Granix, to get the luxury he and Tavessa had never had. They'd tried to Granix, nobody else knew about it, but it hadn't worked, the Gods had rejected their request. It rarely happened but when it did there was no changing it. It was one of the reasons he hated the Gods.

"Nothing to say, Zan? That's a first."

He shrugged, "I was thinking, and waiting for her identity."

He took a deep breath. "Q."

Zan blinked, surely he hadn't heard right. "Q? As in Qaelia, the Chosen?"

Rath brought his head down and looked him directly in the eyes. It was there, it was all there. He wasn't lying, he wasn't joking, he really wanted this. He really wanted this insane, unallowed thing, it was suicide.

"Powers that Be. Rath, are you insane? You would have to pick the one girl you couldn't have.. Oh no, lovers, you haven't …have you with that child? She hasn't even reached her akino yet.."

Rath looked at him, that unreadable stubborn gaze stuck on his face. "No, we haven't. She's not a child, Zan. Just because she hasn't reached her akino doesn't mean she's not mature, you and I both know we were mature long before we underwent ours. Great powers always undergo it late, I only had mine 2 full cycles ago. She's… she's… I can't explain it."

What he said was true, but still, it was a death warrant for them both. Rath was serious, he was actually serious. Rath had innocently suggested he move her into the palace and he'd done it. What had he done?

"I know she's beautiful, and her voice is well it's the Gods gift after all. But I thought you two hated each other, you're always fighting."

Rath gave an annoyed look, "She drives me up a wall, but it's so much more than that. I don't know how to explain it. Will you release me from the engagement or not, the Powers already have?"

He had to think. He really couldn't, the people needed to see him and Vilandra joined. It was also blasphemy what Rath was talking about, the Chosen weren't supposed to fall in love, take lovers and especially not Granix. The penalty for touching one or loving one was death. It was the First Order's realm, and while he doubted they'd actually kill Rath it would certainly strain relations with religion and he couldn't have that. He'd lose the Chosen from his planet for good, and she was so useful in persuasion, and possibly anger the Gods. But it would make Rath happy, something he'd never truly had. Was Rath's happiness more important to him than his planets?

"If anyone finds out about the two of you, you'll both be killed. I could probably save you, but she would either be killed or banished from this planet."

Rath sounded pained, as if he had the world's weight on his shoulder. "I know. It feels so wrong but it feels so good."

Zan looked at Rath, Rath was so important to him. He couldn't lose him, he could take away his chance at happiness but he couldn't bear losing him all together. He couldn't let him do this. But he would be nice about it, make Rath see why not. "Think of the consequences of what would happen if you Granixed with her."

Rath's voice was tight, sharp, pained, almost a yell but deadly quiet at the same time. "You don't think I've thought of them, they haunt me all the time."

He had to push it home. "You Granix with her you essentially sign her death order yourself, Rath. You put a target on her back for all of your enemies, can you really keep her safe all the time and do your job? Answer me honestly, Rath is that a risk you're willing to take."

He was silent for a long time.

"If you do it, Rath. You kill her. I know its harsh but it's reality, I guarantee she'll die if you Granix."

Rath's voice was hard, edged with steel he used before a fight. There was a challenge. "Is that a threat, Zan?"

He would never take that away from Rath, and Rath knew it. He was just being irrational, he might not approve but he wouldn't stoop low. "No, it's a fact and you know it. If your enemies don't do it, the Gods will. I won't release you from your engagement."

Rath looked away angrily, standing up in a fluid movement. "I knew you wouldn't understand."

Zan shook his head wearily, "The problem is that I understand too well, Rath. I see what you don't. You'll be the cause of her death if you Granix, can you live with that? I won't release you from your engagement but I won't stop you from Granixing either."

He could see he was finally hitting home, married to one woman, Granixed to another. It would be hell. He knew the exact moment that Rath understood that she would die, he watched as the spasm of pain crossed his face. Watched as he saw the aftereffects of what his life would be without her. He abruptly sat back down. "You're right, I can't do that to her."

Zan felt pity, pity for a love that couldn't be. In a way like his and Tavessa's, stopped by the universe, except theirs was forbidden. "No, but you can still love her. Keep it hidden, I'll do my best to spread rumors that you're frolicking with a member of the court."

Rath shot him a grateful look. "Thanks, it's so hard thought. Keeping it hidden, I'm so used to hiding everything, emotions that I don't know how to always show her that I care. And she needs that, needs to see it sometimes."

Zan smiled, "Now here is something I can actually help you with.."

"Max?" He felt the water splash on his face. He looked around; he was sitting on a counter in the boys' bathroom staring at Michael.

"You spaced out there pretty bad, Maxwell."

He shrugged, "I had a flash. You were asking my permission to release you from the engagement to Granix with Maria."

Michael nodded, feeling a twinge of pain run through him. Rath's phantom pain at an old memory, one that proved too prophetic.

The bell rung. They got up to go to class.

………………………………………

School passed in a haze of pointed fingers and incessant whispers for both Michael and Maria. Work was passing in a haze of Saturn fries and hassles. Michael glanced up at the shadow leaning over the order counter, "SO, Mikey G, Where you been lately? I stopped by your apartment to drop off your schedule yesterday but unfortunately you weren't there."

She pouted at him. He flipped a burger in response then casually dropped the truth nonchalantly watching her reaction, "Yeah, I stayed at Maria's."

Rage and displeasure spasmed across her face, temporarily distorting her lovely features into an ugly mask. She only gave herself away for a split second before covering it with a look of cool disdain. After a glance at the working Maria she leaned even closer to try and look conspiratorial, 'Lose a bet?"

He gave her a glare and flipped another burger.

"Nah, didn't feel like having her beat up again."

A calculating look crossed her features, "She pull the damsel in distress card?"

Before he could even begin to fashion a response Maria was there, black eye and bobbly antennae, "Courtney, table 7 is waiting. Hop to it."

She gave Maria a venom filled stare and Michael a sweet one followed with a "Bye, Mikey G."

Maria rolled her eyes and shoved her in the direction of the waiting customers. Turning back around she took Courtney's vacated position of leaning on the counter. Because she was turning she missed the final, the worst; the parting death glare full of hatred that was sent her way. Fortunate for them both Michael saw it and resolved to do something about it later.

Maria was full of energy despite the circumstances maybe because of the circumstances. Focusing this attention on getting the maximum tips for her lost work meant Michael also had to do his job. "Michael where is my Will Smith, I swear I put that in before, like, the Big Bang. You're taking forever."

He looked up at her and shook his head. "Maria the Big Bang was billions of years ago."

She bounced up and down on her toes in impatience. In her whiniest voice she began, "Mikey G."

"Don't call me that and stop whining, I'm making it now."

She grinned, "You're my favorite, Spaceboy."

He rolled his eyes, how many times had she said that to him at work. "Mom wants you to stay tonight too because she's still under the impression that the world is trying to kill me."

He looked up in disbelief and blinked at her several times, did she actually just say that?' Leaning forward to place the burger in front of her he said, "It is."

"Whatever" was her response before dancing off in the direction of Booth 3. Watching her go, slightly stunned at her nonchalant attitude towards her life, his eyes caught on Courtney heading back towards him and he solidified his decision to protect her, whatever the costs. If she couldn't care about her safety he would with a relish and take out all obstacles in her way.

Courtney was back at his counter. "Lookin' pretty concentrated there, Mikey G. I heard part of your conversation with Bubbles over there. Trying to figure a way out of another sleep over with damsel in distress?"

Looking across the café he saw that Maria was indeed blowing bubbles with children and laughing. It was a beautiful sight, one he would fight for. Turning his attention back to Courtney he responded to her question. It was time to play the game. "Nope, she needs protecting."

She was silent until his eyes looked up and met hers, "I bet she does after betting beaten up and stabbed."

Outwardly his expression never changed but inwardly he flinched and fought a battle for control not to kill her. Ice flooded his veins, Rath's old glacial control settling in. The kind of control you need for war games, both physical and mental. Outwardly calm he spoke. "SO you saw that. Have anything to do with it, Anhal?"

He'd pulled a trump card, her name. She'd tried to startle him with her knowledge of the stabbing. It hadn't worked, but when he called her by a name she hadn't heard in fifty years her surprise and a healthy amount of fear colored her face. Swallowing down her fear she looked closer, he was more like the Rath she'd loved and followed of Old.

Looking him directly in the eyes, "No."

He stared directly back, into her, through her, testing the truth of her words. She truly hadn't had anything to do with the stabbing; they all worked separate assignments.

The spell broke with Jose's loud voice announcing a shift change. "You are free, Michael brother! Now I am here to be slave to this fao world."

Rolling his eyes at Jose's dramatics he relinquished the grill. Courtney was still staring at him, with a glance at Maria he made up his mind. "WE need to talk. Come to my apartment."

She smiled at him in triumph, savoring her victory. "Gladly. I'll wait by your bike."

He nodded and she went into the back to change. Michael stood, leaning on the break room doorframe and watched Maria. Going with Courtney meant breaking their plans of going to the Granolith together and it pretty much guaranteed the peace agreement they'd come to earlier was also shattered. The price he would have to pay for her safety.

Maria sensing his eyes pranced over, "Shift's over! Let's go. Let's go now!"

She was so excited, he looked at her taking a deep breath. "I can't."

She looked at him in confusion and turned to see if Jose hadn't shown up. He gave her a cheerful wave, and then she looked back to Michael this time in anger. "Why not?'

Looking her directly in the eyes he answered in a cool voice, "Courtney's coming over. I have to deal with her, she hates you and I need to eliminate the threat, if necessary."

Her lower lip began to tremble but she resolutely stopped it. "You're blowing me off for Courtney? I can't believe you, and after this morning. God, I actually believed you, hook line and sinker."

He cut in, "Maria, I meant it. I still do, I just need to take care of this for us."

Her voice was tight with anger, "No. Michael you didn't, because if you actually meant it you wouldn't be breaking our promise. Gosh! I should have known better."

He stopped her yammering with a kiss. Burning hot; to try and transmit how he felt.

Maria felt the explosion on her mouth and sparks went up her spine. Not the sparks of disgust she'd been so afraid she would feel after Victor but sparks of pleasure.

HE broke the kiss, breathing hard and pulled away. Maria stood perfectly still with her eyes shut, savoring the moment.

"I meant it.' His voice was soft but laced with intensity.

A rush of air and the swoosh of the door and he was gone.

Maria opened her eyes.

Maria was walking home from work, alone. Her mother had the car because she'd assumed Maria and Michael would come back together. That Michael would keep her daughter safe, but instead he had other plans.

So she walked in the darkness, lit only by the moon, stars and an occasional street light. Normally she loved ht walk home, a relaxing end to a long hectic shift. Not tonight, tonight something stirred in the air, something that didn't belong. Something that made the night seem darker and the walk longer, something that blew oppression in by the wind and held evil creeping in the shadows.

So she walked, unnerved and hyper alert and very much alone. Humming a mindless tune to keep the worries at bay she slipped from light to light. Something moved out of the corner of her eye, in the shadows.

Maria whirled around, nothing. Uneasy she called, "Who's there?"

"Ill met by moonlight, proud Titania."

She whirled towards the voice, back to the direction she had been facing before. How? Shaking it off she looked at the boy in front of her. Relaxing some at his small stature, just some loser kid trying to make a pass at her by using Shakespeare.

She gave him a perfunctory smile, "Not tonight, junior."

She brushed past him, intending to walk on home as quickly as possible but his voice stopped her.

"Perhaps Titania doesn't flatter you, though the similarities are high. How about high priestess, he used to call you that after all."

All the hairs rose on her body at that voice, the cruelly, the obvious disfigurement of the speaker's soul. Maria turned slowly back around to face the devil in disguise.

He laughed, 'Recognize me now, pet? You should, after all I killed you and your Neanderthal of a boyfriend last time around."

He dropped the laughing tone and his voice hardened; "Though you weren't supposed to come back. You were very naughty."

Maria felt insane laughter bubbling up in at the being lectured by a child about living. She let it loose accompanied by words not entirely her own. "I did, and I took the poison, playing by your rules and bat you at your own game, Nkyot."

Rage crossed those stony features, but only for a second. Then he abruptly laughed again, "That you did and because I always respect winners and the Gods I offer you a choice."

She shivered; such choices were rarely good and rarely fair. But she was frozen to where she stood by curiosity, by forces that shouldn't exist on earth yet and by the shivers of premonition that ran down her spine.

Watching her closely he began to talk in a persuasive, but curiously dead voice. "I offer you his safety."

He paused, watching the violent tremors that ran through her now, temptation was high. For here there was only one he. Smiling slightly he continued on, "But in return I was something."

Her voice was desperate but still strong, "What?"

His smile was slow and snakelike, mirroring the one that was worn by a serpent in the Garden of Eden. He was, after all, offering the same gift, or a form of it. Temptation.

"You and the Granolith back on Antar."

She blanched but held firm, daring to deal with the devil. "Your price is too high."

She turned to walk away.

"Fine, one or the other. It will reach the same end."

She turned slowly back to face him, her eyes narrowing, "What end?"

His smile was tight, devoid of all mirth and pleasure. "Kivar's crown secure, with a supposed blessing form the Gods, like the return of the Lost One, as they call you now, the people would finally support him."

There was a patch of silence while she digested his statement. Then he spoke again, "I leave you the option. When you're ready to bargain invoke my name three times. I'll even throw in the safety of the humans."

Then he was gone, leaving Maria standing in the now too bright streetlight. She had been touched by darkness and the light burned. Though she hadn't taken the deal she couldn't shake the feeling that she lost somehow. She was more confused than before, she looked at the moon, recalling an old curse, and the night seemed much heavier than it should have. Slowly she turned to walk home.

………………….

"Nice place. I'm diggin the candles.' Courtney's voice echoed in the small apartment. Michael shrugged out of his jacket.

"Maria's touch, I don't always have power so she demanded candles." Courtney made a face; it obviously wasn't what she wanted to hear.

Abruptly upon seeing the look on her face Michael needed to know something. "Why do you hate her so much?"

She closed her eyes for a second and went to sit down on the couch. "So you noticed, huh?"

"It's hard not to, now answer the question."

Sighing she began, "How much do you remember about Rath's life?"

"Enough. Now talk, skin." His voice was short and he raised his hand, aiming it at her.

She put her hands up in the universal sign of surrender. "I'm talking, sheesh. It begins in the last life. You were, are, the leader Antar needed. We were on the brink of a Golden Age but Zan wasn't strong enough to carry us into it, he pushed to soon. You would have, but you were loyal only to Zan… or so we thought."

His stare was solid, "Get to the point."

She rolled her eyes at his impatience, "I was one of your followers, in the political sense."

"SO that's why you had the shrine."

She had the grace to pinken. "Yeah, anyway we were trying to convince you to be leader but she was always interfering. And you didn't seem to care about leading towards the end, you were focused elsewhere. And at the very end you were…… not entirely sane because of her."

Michael nodded, Rath still wasn't stable and held a lot of anger towards her for it. "Did you know about us last time?"

She shook her head, "No, I knew you were close after an incident."

Something about the way she smiled told Michael he didn't want to hear about this particular incident. Instead he changed his focus, "What are you doin in Roswell."

"Looking for you."

His eyes bored through her, "I want the whole truth."

She sighed, "Working with a group of skins, but I was only using their knowledge to find you and convince you to our cause."

He didn't say anything, just silently stared at her. Courtney began to sweat, "I'm loyal only to you."

The words echoed through time. They'd been said before by Q, by himself. Michael grimly smiled, Courtney may have just saved her life.

The soldier rose in him, 'You haven't been showing your loyalty very well."

She was on her knees in a flash. Trembling all over in fear. "I'll do whatever it takes to prove my loyalty to you and the cause."

He ran swiftly through his options, he didn't want to lead but this cause would give him an army. "Report to me all contact and everything that's said between the skins. I want to know everything."

She looked at the odd glitter in his eyes, "You mean as a spy? I'll do it, though it's dangerous work."

His voice was cold, remote. "your penance, she almost died, so I put you in the same situation. A life for a life, Anhal. It's how it has always worked."

She gulped.

He smiled grimly, "The past always haunts us."

She looked at his too dark eyes, he was sparing her life but also taking it in a way. She gave him a coy look, "Don't you care if I die, Michael?"

The dark eyes said nothing, they didn't need too. They didn't care if she died because she had let his beloved almost die, they would only lament the loss of information. The darkness receded to be replaced by unhappy brown shades.

This time it was Michael's voice, "There are casualties in war, Courtney you know that. But I will offer you my protection."

She sighed in relief. Giddiness rising up in her.

She rose from her knees to sit down next to him on the couch. She slowly lifted his hand to her mouth and kissed it. He started at the sensation, but didn't move away. Taking it as a cue she leaned foreword pressing her lips to his. He didn't respond so she pushed even more forward.

It felt familiar to Michael, the feel of her lips on his, her body pressed close. Confused he let the kiss go on, it broke and he blinked at her.

Then it hit him. "Get off."

She complied, still wearing that smug smile, "Felt familiar didn't it? We were together long before she was around."

Panic touched Michael, he hadn't had he? He'd kissed her twice this time and not stopped her. Rath's words flowed through him, bringing the icy control he craved.

"You were a mistake, Anhal. A one night stand that led to a stalker for me."

She stared back hurt, Rath's voice continued on through Michael. "You romanticized it. You still do. Heed my warning now. Try a stunt like that again and I'll hante you."

Kill her, leave her soul to rot, always craving the eternal release it would never get. She blanched, turning white. Nodding furiously, agreeing with what he said. "Never again sir. I go now to your commands."

He nodded, not offering the ritual blessing. She left in a hurry.

He sat alone with his thoughts, his deeds and his past swirling around him. He dropped his head in his hands.

…………………………………….

Maria and Michael arrived at the Valenti residence to find Kyle and Tess perched on the sofa watching Saturday morning Scooby doo cartoons while shoveling sugary cereal down their throats.

Michael's response to the scene was, "Sweet, Scooby. Where's the bowls?"

"Kitchen counter." Kyle said not taking his eyes off the screen. Maria shook her head but got comfy in a big chair anyway. Shortly after Michael came back in the room carrying two bowls of cereal. Silently he handed Maria one, ignoring the shocked but grateful look on her face. "Scoot over."

She did, letting him squeeze in the chair with her. "So what are we doing here anyway?"

Tess looked up from the commercial, at Maria. She gave her a grim smile. "Honesty session once everyone is here."

Kyle joined in singing to the tune of the commercial's jingle, "Too many secrets, too many lies."

He held the last note a long time. Maria just rolled her eyes. Shortly everyone else arrived by twos, first Liz and Alex then Max and Isabel.

Once pleasantries had been exchanged and cereal distributed everyone settled down.

"Why are we here, Kyle?" Max asked.

"Happy you asked, Max. Tess, the gavel please."

Laughing and rolling her eyes Tess handed Kyle the gavel. He banged it solemnly against the coffee table three times in spoke in his most serious voice, "I officially call this meeting of Liars and Secret Keepers Anonymous to order."

Isabel's voice rang out full of disbelief, "You've got to be kidding me, this is ridiculous. I'm leaving."

She stood up to go but Alex blocked her way. In a quiet sad voice he said, 'Sit down, Isabel. You're one of the reasons we called this meeting."

Avoiding everyone's eyes she sat back down without protest.

Kyle looked around to see if there were any other protests. Then began, "My name is Kyle and I'm an unrepentant liar. I'd like to confess to lying about Liz's missing homework, I borrowed it to copy it. Alien related I'd like to admit to not trying very hard to pull Michael off Vicky.'

There was a moment of stunned silence as several people tried to stifle giggles. Liz grinned at Kyle, "Cheater."

Kyle grinned back and shrugged. Then Max grinning self-consciously began, "My name is Max and I've been keeping secrets from the group."

"HI Max, admitting is the first step to recovery."

Max laughed along with everyone else at Kyle's comment.

"Well I've had several flashbacks and not told the group about them. One was where I remembered Maria telling us the prophecy and I told everyone to ignore what she said because I hated religion. It's my fault that Rath and Vilandra were still engaged. Another was that Rath asked me for permission to Granix and I denied him, Sorry Michael."

There was a moment of silence from the group then Michael said, "Its in the past, Maxwell. Thanks for sharing though, this memories mean we're all rising."

Kyle's voice again, "Thank you Max for sharing. We appreciate your honesty, now who's next?"

Michael shrugged, "I'm not saying my name because that's stupid. I made a deal with Courtney last night, She's a skin and now she's my spy in return for my protection she follows me. Second off I lied about the location of the Granolith at breakfast, you never know who's listening. I'm only going to tell aliens where the Granolith is because once you know you become a target. Third off I've been having flashes but they're none of the group's business because they're private so I'm not telling you."

Tess laughed, he was so blunt.

"Why do you get to decide if they're private?" Kyle asked.

Michael looked at him then over to Maria, "They're about Maria. All the other's I've told you about."

Kyle nodded, feeling slightly stupid. Then his pride got the better of him. "OK, point taken. Thank you for sharing, Michael. But I want to know about the Granolith, what if y'all need me?"

He shrugged, "At your own risk, Kyle."

"I'm a risk taking man."

Michael nodded, indicating he'd tell him later. Max asked, "So we have a spy now. Good work Michael. Tell us the reports."

"Sure thing, it could be really useful."

"Guys, what if she's playing you Michael?" Alex's voice was curious and wary.

"Then she dies. Rath can tell when people lie, she's loyal. I made sure of that." Alex averted his eyes at the utter certainty and coldness of Michael's voice.

"OK, my turn. My name is Maria!"

"Hi, Maria. Admitting your problem is the first step to recovery."

She smiled, "Thanks, Kyle. I've been having Michael flashes and Michael and I searched Courtney's house when we found out she was a skin. OK, last night I was walking home from work and this creepy kid from our last life approached me."

Michael suddenly looked very angry but managed to hold his tongue. With a sideways glance at him Maria continued, "Anyway he offered me Michael's safety in return for me or the Granolith. I didn't take it, though he left the deal open.'

Several people caught their breath while looking at Michael. Fury amongst other emotions was rattling across his face, making everything in the room seem pale in comparison. Michael asked in a somewhat strangled voice, "You can never take that deal Maria, never. Promise me."

She was silent.

"Maria." It was a warning tone, one that told of anger still to come.

She looked at him, at the naked fear in his eyes. Softly she spoke, "I won't give up the Granolith."

He stared at her, "Maria, I'm asking you this one thing. Promise me you won't give yourself up…please."

"I can't make that promise, Michael. Nothing you can do or say will change that, my life is ultimately my choice."

Anger and helplessness swirled across his face. He ran his hand through his hair, looking for something, anything to change her mind. Deciding he would work on her later, in private he changed tactics, fueled his anger towards the one who made the offer. "Who was he?"

Maria looked at the intensity of his eyes and patted him softly on the arm, "Nkyot."

"You saw Nicholas?" Isabel's voice was startled ad somewhat excited.

Maria was confused, "Yes, do you know him?"

Isabel eagerly nodded and Maria looked at her in wonder, "He killed me and Michael last time and probably the rest of you. He's horrible!"

Anger rose swiftly in Isabel, an old anger; one that didn't belong to her. An old issue of others not understanding. "No he's not! You don't know him, don't speak of him like that, you whore. You probably deserved it."

Maria reeled back into her chair as if she'd been slapped. Everyone else gasped, where had that come from? Michael immediately was in the fray, jumping to Maria's defense.

"What the hell, Isabel? Never talk to Maria that way, you have no right to treat your friend that way. No right. Since when do you prefer the enemy to us. You better start talking."

She lashed back out, "Shut up, Michael. Your always running to defend her, why is that? What's so special about her, she's worthless, no power no grace. Why do you put her above me, the rest of us? It certainly isn't because she makes you happy, you make each other miserable."

Before Maria or Michael could respond to the allegations, the seed of truth in them, Alex jumped in. "Your jealous, Isabel. Deal with it on your own time. Now tell us how you know this Nicholas character. He was why you stole Kyle's car, isn't he?"

Maria was staring forward in shock, dimly she heard that Isabel had stolen Big Red, Kyle's car. And in that same dim sense she was shocked, appalled at what her friend was becoming. But it was all so dim, her words kept echoing inside her mind, _you make each other miserable_.

Calming herself down Isabel began to talk. "I met him in the park after Maria got stabbed. He showed me memory of my mother and gave me a necklace that my mother gave me on Antar. Then he showed me that we were together on Antar and then he got kidnapped. So I took Kyle's car and rescued him."

There was a long uncomfortable silence where everyone could still see Michael seething. He broke it, shaking his head. "So you not only stole Kyle's car, lied to us, but you also saved the guy who killed Maria in her last life. Insult her in this one. Great job, Isabel, done anything else to help the enemy lately?"

"Michael." Max's voice was sharp.

Maria put her hand on Michael's arm in a gesture to calm him down or maybe to calm herself down and bring her back to reality. His only response was to sling his arm around her shoulders and draw her closer. She let herself be pulled but her shoulders stayed tense, the words still echoing; _you make each other miserable_. She knew, as well as everyone in the room did, that he wasn't doing it for comfort; that it was a power play. A sign that she was under his protection, a very obvious sign for Isabel.

Max watched the scene passively, then he turned to his sister. "You've been really stupid. What were you thinking, Iz? We've all got to be more careful about who we chose as friends."

Isabel stared back, saying words she didn't really feel. "I'm sorry, I thought I was helping a friend."

Max looked over at Michael, their eyes met, silent communication. Keep an eye on her. Michael looked at Maria, her face was a phantom. A pain, a something she couldn't quite remember, just out of her grasp. It was something terribly important. He tightened his arm around her.

Then it hit.


	18. Chapter 13

Authors note: Thanks to keirah, xmag, higherbeingfriendsfan, spaceboi's pixie, candylovin fehrian, sara15 and somewhere87 for reviews! Sorry about the lateness of the update but we've been having bad weather and lost internet for a few days and power. I hope yall all got my answers to the questions though. Anyway the next part might take awhile too since im about to hit AP exams and finals. we'll see.! Enjoy, let me know if you like this format.

Collision Part 13  
Time Stands Still

_ The way we are the way we were  
(It's just a shadow of what's wrong)  
The time with you the time is stirred  
(I love you for, so long)  
The hearts they turn, they turn away  
(she says to go please don't you cry)  
Love lost was found, night turns to day  
Time Stands Still - All American Rejects _

Nacedo stood outside the window of the Valenti house watching the proceedings with interest. He watched the arguments and confessions with intrigue. He watched as the group began to pull apart and knew that he couldn't allow that to happen. They were scared and angry over the present and confused over the unknown past. It wouldn't do if they wanted to survive.

It was time for the past to come out. The story to unfold, all of their mistakes, all of his mistakes. He sighed, it was time to pay his penance for his errors. He reached out with his mind and nudged all of their minds. He nudged with his familiar presence to wake Rath, Zan, Vilandra, Tavessa and Q. He nudged the memories forward and sat back to wait for the sky to fall.

………………………..

'_You make each other miserable'_ it echoed through her, slamming her into another time, another place.

She was propped up in a bed, laying in a huge next of pillows. Her plant was on the table beside her, along with various other bouquets of flora, the largest from Larek. She was listening to music, sung by a lady of the court to whom she'd been giving vocal lessons in return for sewing lessons to help pass away her recovery.

The door flew open, resounding with a slam against the wall. Framed by the doorway in a haze of gold light from the hallway stood the princess in all of her glory, the true Siren of Antar.

"Out." It was a simple word issued into an order. A word with 3 letters made to convey her anger, displeasure and the ever-present iciness. She flung out her arm motioning for the girl to leave. Even this angry gesture was perfectly controlled, perfectly graceful, the epithet of beauty.

The girl hurried from the room as silently and as quickly as she could with her head buried to avoid those beautiful but stony eyes that watched her. For Vilandra was beautiful, far more stunning than the weak creature that lay in the bed, but there was an iciness, a remoteness about her beauty. It made it far more stunning, more untouchable, but it lacked the warmth that Antarian's craved: the pureness of emotion and joy of life. And for that she was the most beautiful woman on Antar, but beautiful in the way one would view a statue, a remote piece of art; untouched and untouchable.

"Why don't you sit down, Princess?" Q's voice was wary, but still welcoming. They were friends in a certain fashion after all.

Vilandra smiled a cold smile. "No thank you. I prefer to stand, I do love the feel of strength of my own legs, don't you? Oh wait… Have you been able to get out of bed yet?"

She already knew the answer to the question and they both knew it, but the girl in the bed answered placidly enough. "Not yet, though I think I'll go to the gardens tomorrow. Gather some energy from the outdoors and get some fresh air."

Something enigmatic, something malicious showed on Vilandra's face. "Are you sure you're just looking for fresh air? I can think of many more interesting things the gardens have to offer."

The Princess trailed off on a suggestive note, causing fear to begin to slowly coil in Q's stomach. Fear beginning to curl around itself winding a knot at the prospect of another knowing her secret, her shame. She tired to keep her voice steady, interested, "Like what?"

Vilandra sat down on the chair next to the bed and idly began to examine her nails, "Like what?"

Her eyes quirked upwards to meet the bed ridden girl's and she leaned closer, "or like who?'

The knot in her stomach tightened, tightened and squeezed to the point that it was physically painful. Panic was beginning to set in now, giving the fear a protective layer in which to grow. She desperately tried to cover it up. 'I don't know what you're talking about."

The other girl laughed a full-bodied throaty, rich laugh. "Don't you? You certainly seem to. Don't bother trying to hide it, you can't, and the very nature of your gift defies it. Though you've been defying those tenants lately. Have you looked at him closely lately?"

She stared at the other girl, not wanting to hear her words, not wanting to hear the truths she would tell. One last desperate attempt at denial, "I don't know who you're talking about."

The Princess smiled again, "Surely you remember Rath, he's rather hard to forget."

If only he wasn't, she'd be in a very different position. She felt her reaction to his name and knew it showed on her face, in her body language.

"There you do know who I'm talking about. Now back to looking closely at him, have you?"

There was no lying now; it had to come out sometime. She could only pray for mercy to Gods she'd defied. Meeting Vilandra's eyes she nodded miserably. Some truths you saw no matter how hard you tried not to.

"What have you seen?"

She looked at the Princess wondering at her motives, her and Rath were old friends after all and betrothed. But there were also the rumors about the Princess and another. Slowly she began to talk, each word costing her limited strength, "He's Rath, he's tired and he's been distant lately.."

She trailed off not wanting to go into too much detail, not wanting to look at her own pain too closely. Life had been cruel to her lately, robbing her of her strength and now this…

Vilandra eyed her with something akin to pity in those endless eyes; "He's miserable and so are you. You make each other miserable."

She felt her heart squeeze, the panic and fear rushing in, taking control for a moment. So much pain at the truth, her vision swam black, leaving spots dancing in her vision. The pain didn't fade, it never would, the words echoed, but she managed to push through it. She used laser-like focus on the Princess and her stabbing words.

"Did you know that when you first woke up you didn't recognize him, you asked about another. It killed him, its still killing him. He doesn't trust you and you shouldn't trust him. Do you know where he was the night your fever broke?"

Had she really not recognized him? Everything from the beginning of her reawakening was hazy, all jumbled. How could she have, all they did was wound and wound each other. Fear squeezed her tighter at her questions. She didn't know where he was but now, now she had to.

"No," she squeezed it out past the ever-growing fear. Everything was closing in on her, leaning close to hear the answer to the question.

That same look so full of pity, she squeezed her eyes shut to block out her gaze. To block out the answer.

"He was with another woman…. In her bed."

_Oh Powers That Be, Oh Gods That I Serve. No, no, NO. Please let her be lying. Not this, it can't end this way._

The pain was overwhelming, so complete so enveloping. She felt herself being ripped in two and closed her eyes. Closed her eyes to hide the darkness that was showing there, closed her eyes to hide from the truth. It was too much; too soon, she was still too weak for this. She felt the darkness begin to fall and leaned towards it gratefully.

Sting.

A stinging pinch on her arm snapped her out of it, out of the fall and into denial.

"You're lying, I don't know why but your lying." She heard the hysteria in her voice but could do nothing to stop it; she was past caring about her hysteria. Just about this, about this horrible lie.

Vilandra reached into her resplendent robes and withdrew a copy of the Antarian tabloid and handed it to her. Her eyes still held that pitying look, the look an older woman gives a younger one when she finally realizes the world isn't fair.

She didn't want to look, compelled her self not to. But curiosity, the same curiosity that killed the cat, compelled her more strongly. There it was on the cover in black and white, no gray areas or half-truths. A big ugly picture, the big ugly truth. There was Rath and a woman, a woman clearly not her, leaning drunkenly up against a door locked in an embrace that demurely could have been described as passionate. And then there was the headline above it; "The General celebrates Lughnessead with a Lovely Mystery Lady."

She stared at it for a long time, an eternity maybe. She stared as her eyes went black and past that. She stared as emotion choked her throat and made it hard to speak. She stared as she choked it out, "Why?"

She stared as her companion began to speak, "Rath's a man and men have needs. Needs you can't fulfill or give him. He'll go elsewhere for fulfillment."

She stared at it as fury flooded her, fury at her inadequacy to be what he wanted and needed, fury at her limitations. She stared at it as the calmness followed the fury, glaciers that froze the lava. She carefully folded up the tabloid and placed it on the table next to her bed with infinite care.

The small act hurt her greatly. Her eyes stayed black through the calmness, the ice didn't dull the pain just gave control. Calmness, the icy tone she'd learned from him now hurt to use. But use it she did, "Why did you show me this?"

Vilandra eyed her for a long time. Then she abruptly smiled, "Because I care about Rath, why else? We are to be married after all, and why would I want a husband who's in love with another?"

She stared at the Princess for a long time; "There's more to it than that. You have a lover and hate me for some reason."

Vilandra smiled again; "Fine I have a lover. Several in fact and it's not as though I haven't enjoyed Rath's attentions either. But you turned my bother and Rath against me. They have guards on me and follow my every move."

The girl in the bed barely blanched at the Rath comment, there was already a knife in her heart, turning it didn't hurt as much. She looked confused; "I've never talked to Rath or the King about you."

The Princess narrowed her eyes, "Have you forgotten your 'divine' message?"

She looked on and nodded.

The Princess smiled a cruel smile, "I hope you pay the price for being with Rath and I hope you pay it soon."

A nasty smile, "But then again your paying now aren't you? How does it feel to know that he's taking lovers? Does it eat you up inside to know your not enough, that you make each other miserable?"

She was silent; there was no lying to a Royal. She leaned closer to the bed, enjoying her pain. "Tell me Siren, how many times has he visited you since you woke?"

Q felt shame, fury and despair at the answer. She felt the panic setting in again. The panic at knowing the truth and understanding Vilandra's arguments. Slowly she felt her heart fall to denial again instead of despair. "Two, but he's very busy and often away, like right now."

"So busy he can't walk next door, your in his wing you know. Right next door."

She cocked her head to the side, "Shhh. Listen closely to the hallway."

She listened, her ears sharpening without her control to hear Rath's low tones and the high pitch of a female conversing not far from the door. How utterly convenient, she turned to face Vilandra. "Your just jealous. Jealous that we have something you don't something you can't touch, jealous that he's got more to his life now."

The Princess's face contorted in rage, in hatred. "You make each other miserable, what is there to be jealous about?"

Those words hurt, they burned and stung and left angry welts on her soul.

The door flew open and there stood Rath with a straight posture and closed face. It hurt to see him, hurt so much.

Something in her snapped, broke into a million pieces and stabbed her soul over and over again as she looked at him. It hurt, it hurt so much to look at him and see him staring back with a look of practiced indifference on his face. It made her wonder if that look wasn't so practiced after all, if he really didn't care all that much. It hurt more than anything else could, more than an outright rejection. How could she not have seen it for so long, put up with the coldness and the fights when she'd always craved open warmth, loving, and the gentle feeling of security. She got none of that with Rath, fights and an occasional unconventional display that he cared and instead of security she got exhilarating danger. The danger of the forbidden, the danger of him, the danger if his control broke. He was everything she'd never wanted and he was everything she'd always needed.

The iciness left, boiled away by the lava that filled her.

"Get out! I hate you!" It was a scream; a scream filled with her anguish, her pain, her fear, and her disappointment in him and herself. It was a scream filled with everything she'd ever felt towards him and their situation; al the frustration, all the love, all the annoyance, need and all the understanding. It all bled into one another and filled her mortal soul. It was too much, too soon. She saw his shocked face as she felt her body shutting down, slipping into sleep to recover from the exertion.

Maria found herself still feeling the old pain when she opened her eyes into Michael's anxious face. He was staring intently at her as if he was mirroring her features or looking for something. He saw an old pain, one desperately familiar, an old pain that stirred a responsive pain deep within him. He looked into those pain filled eyes and slipped somewhere, somewhen where he'd seen those green eyes for the first time.

…………………

They were in a council meeting. The full council was present; Zan, him, advisors, priests and various specialists.

"Commander, give your report while we wait for the Siren."

He stood, rolling his eyes slightly. There could be a billion reasons why she was late, though not many of them the council would view as important as she did. They could be very close minded sometimes.

"The colonies on Riveria 3b are having border issues with the locals. I'm sending a battalion out to take care of the problem-"

The door flew open and she nearly ran in, slightly out of break. She looked radiant and happy, slightly flushed and smiling sheepishly. "I'm sorry I'm late, there were troubles with the birth of Shenai's child."

A man, Shenai stood up. She smiled at him, "Your son and wife are fine now, healthy as can be."

He bowed, 'I thank you, Blessed One."

She bowed in return, taking a moment to smile at Rath. He knew she loved children, perhaps because they were unavailable to her. A priest stood up, "Yes. Now, Qaelia, Chosen of the Gods, will you please sing the invocation and blessing so we may start the meeting?"

She blushed and opened her mouth to begin the song but nothing came out. She turned redder, and seemed to burn with an unholy light. She burned brighter still, her face contorting with pain as she reached up to grab her throat. He tried to stand but everything seemed to be moving in slow motion. Frozen in the moment, barely stirring. All he could do was watch, helplessly as it played out like a film.

The reflectiveness of her eyes seemed to shatter like a broken mirror and she fell slowly to the ground. It seemed to take an eternity, watching her pain filled face fall. The world around her paled in comparison to her burning form, as if was less real than her. Less important, involving less substance.

Then she hit the ground with a resounding crash. Time smacked back to reality. It all seemed so fast, how he could hear her screams and see her writhing on the floor. He heard the din of everyone in the room, the reality of the situation, the panic, and the fear.

He jumped up and was by her side in seconds, his heart pounding wildly.

He was kneeling by her writhing form. Her eyes abruptly flew open and looked straight at him. They were all wrong, they were green around the black, and then white around the green circles; eyes that didn't belong to any Antarian. It scared him; scared him in a way he couldn't understand because it also felt vaguely familiar. He stared at the girl looking out of his love's eyes, stared at someone who was vaguely familiar and it seemed to take forever. It was an eternity of a moment, a moment that would haunt him for a long time. He blinked and she began to seize, the light burning her form from the inside.

Panicking he held her down and as he did so he fell back into reality. There were more people in the room than just him and her. It was crazy, yelling, panicking, some people quietly watching it all. The priests were there, holding her down with him, yelling at each other.

"This is your fault. If we'd prepared her properly she wouldn't be like this.'

"It was a group decision not to make her a channel. She was too weak, giftless. Why would we think they would ever chose her?" Something burned him, it took Rath a moment to realize it was his own indignation. He didn't know what they were talking about exactly, but she wasn't worthless or giftless. She'd given him more than he'd ever asked for.

"Well now we'll probably get a garbled message and she'll likely die."

Die? His heart seized. He needed to stop this pain and save her. She screamed, the kind of scream that told of an eternity of burning in the depths of hell, a scream that shattered the lights in the room and snuffed the stars. The pain that stole sanity. Her hands reached up, hooking into claws as she raked them down her face leaving bloody trails in their wake. Bloody marks as a testament to her pain, to her ordeal.

Rath wasn't a particularly strong empath but he could feel her pain; it was radiating off her in tidal waves. Rath reached out pressing his hand to her forehead. He began to extend his power; to take the pain into himself.

His arm was snatched away, the wrist breaking as the power extending into empty air.

"You can't, you'll break the connection."

Fury filled him, who was this puny man telling him to leave her in pain. He moved to fling the priest across the room but then Zan was there. Always at the right time, always ready to do damage control for his impulsive friend.

"What's happening to her? I can feel her pain."

The priest turned to his King, "She's becoming a gateway between this world and the holy one. A messenger if you will, for the Gods. She was never prepared, opened as a channel to receive. We didn't think They would choose her. So they're opening a channel by force."

Zan looked furious, his even temper gone in a flash. He had no tolerance for stupidity, bigotry or unnecessary pain. This had all three. "You're idiots. I thought the Gods were good."

The priest looked at the blinding, seizing figure on the ground. 'Too good, too pure. The power tries to make everything perfect instantly, it burns. It's the price they pay for being channels."

Rath found his voice, scratchy but determined. "She'll be all right though, after, right?"

He'd had the power flow through him painlessly from the Granolith, he was fine. She'd be fine, she had to be.

The priest looked away, silent. Something snapped in Rath, the precious control. He flung out his arm, sending the priest flying across the room into a wall. His penance for her pain. Slowly he turned to the other priest. He knew his eyes were blazing, burning holes into the priest because they showed the fires of hell that burned in him.

"Answer the question." His voice was remarkable calm, too calm.

The priest gulped with a look at his fallen comrade, "Perhaps. If she lives through the burnout, she won't be the same, people never are after they've had power that magnitude pass through them. It affects their brains, their bodies and even their souls."

He nodded, feeling a tightness in his chest. Zan looked at him, understanding flashing through his eyes. He asked the question that was burning up Rath's mind. "What do we do now?"

The priest gave Rath an odd look, but he was beyond caring.

"We wait."

And so they waited, hours or minutes he was never sure. It was an eternity of her pain for him, broken only by her screams and seizures. Broken only by attempts to keep her hands away so she couldn't claw herself. After those claws made several long angry gashes they ended up binding her arms to her body, out of the way. It was an eternity of her pain filling his head, drumming in incessantly, blocking everything else out. The pain flowed thick, broadcasting itself around the room touching everyone.

After a sempiternity she abruptly sat bolt upright. Her eyes opened, not the usual mirrored quality. They shone a milky white, with the luminosity of opals flowing from them. Unseeing eyes, blind eyes, the eyes of one who didn't need mere physical senses to guide them. They sat in an empty face as if there was nobody inside to control the muscles.

She began to speak, a voice that was full of the joys of creation, the pain of watching your creations suffer and die. A voice so full of emotion that it was painful to listen to, a voice devoid of feeling. A voice of paradoxes, a voice so full of power that it could belong to no mortal.

"She walks with death at her side, matching her step for step, circling closer and closer each time. She steps further from your group each nightfall. Save her, and you might yet save Antar. Save the lost royal and the reign of Zan."

There was silence, then those blank, yet oddly full, unseeing eyes turned towards Zan. He sat perfectly still, full of fear and respect. The voice directed this time at the King.

"The words of the prophets are written, defy them and pay the price. Your decisions will haunt Antar, we give you once chance to repent by saving the lost royal."

He gulped but was silent, letting the words sink in.

The unseeing eyes turned slowly to the priests, "Your arrogance will cost. Remember religion is your focus, not politicking."

The priests bowed in reverence, in shame. Slowly those glowing eyes in the frozen face turned towards him. The face, her face, mechanically smiled a small smile, and inclined her head at him. Her hair flowing over the shoulder with infinite grace, like a waterfall of nonlinear time. It was the first movement of any kind that wasn't just the eyes.

"We greet you, brother."

Silence, They, It, was waiting for something. A greeting in return. Rath wasn't sure to react, he'd just been the only one in a room full of the most important people on the planet to be greeted by Gods. Greeted by Gods as a brother. Uncertainty and familiarity washed over him.

"Fairest and Wisest, greetings and allegiance." He bowed his head. He had no idea where it came from but it seemed to please the Gods, the One, speaking through her.

"For you we have only this:. A cycle breaks, but will leave a new one in its place. Old debts must be paid and old curses heeded. Don't be afraid to love, but when in doubt or trouble go to where it started. Choose carefully for the price is high. Remember that no prayers go unanswered and that everything has its price."

Confused he listened with the same intensity he'd used to survive the training. The words soaking into him, becoming him.

He noticed that the longer the bright presence burned through her the less real, less substantial she seemed. As f she couldn't bear to exist with all of the power flowing through her. The holy eyes stared at him for a long moment, looking through him and into the deepest parts of him. What it saw, what it found he would never be sure. After what seemed like an eternity under that bright, knowing gaze it turned away.

"Heed my warnings now. Everything has its price, and you will pay it."

The eyes seemed to burn even brighter with the eternal fires that fueled them blazing through. Brighter and brighter still until no mortal could look upon her. Then the light was gone in a surge of brilliance and a high sweet note. She blinked, her own mirrored eyes, still shattered.

They met his and she crumpled.

The air still hung thick with power though the spell was broken. And reality came crashing back into the room, stirring the inhabitants' back to life. Rath stared at the crumpled figure in front of him, this broken physical vessel that was all that remained. Broken by the Gods she served. She seemed unreal, a specter, seemed less solid than the rest of the room, as if she were a fading flower. He stared at the extreme pallor of her face, broken only by the long ugly red gashes her nails had made due to the pain. He stared at the long lilac hair that fanned out from her prone form, giving it a halo in which to rest. At the utter stillness she laid in.

They all stared at her still form daring to wonder if she lived and if she would be the same if she did.

He knelt down next to her, shaking all over, but feeling curiously dead on the inside. He pressed his fingers to her neck, harder and harder, until he found the faint, erratic pule he was looking for.

Then the priests were there, shoving past him, kneeling next to her. One was staring a prayer and the other yelling for the healers and a stretcher. He healer reached out to touch her, but immediately snatched his hand back, she was burning up. Too hot to touch, the power burnout eating her alive from the inside. "We need that stretcher now, she's too hot to touch, then we need to cool her down the faster we break the fever the better her chances."

_'Better her chances'_ it seemed to echo in his mind. Better her chances at survival, meaning right now her chances of surviving were low. He'd been in countless battles, with countless soldiers dying around him. He knew all about betting chances, but never had it seemed more important than now. He'd had countless friends die and not been terribly affected, that was the price of war. But could he survive this death, this death of an innocent, who was so much more important than a mere friend. He couldn't and knew it in the same way you knew the sun will rise each morning, it was an accepted fact.

He reached down gently picking her up, there was no time to waste. She was hot, but not burning to the touch as she had been to the priest. Maybe the glacial control went father than just his mind, or maybe it was because the Gods greeted him as a brother and he'd had their power flow through him and been left unharmed.

Or maybe even fire knew better than to burn Rath.

He looked down at her still, light form his arms and walked out of the room. Flabbergasted the priests and others followed him, slightly wary of a man who could pick up a girl who burned others to a touch and walk stone faced through the palace. He strode past the turn he should have taken to get to her room, then past the turn to the hospital wing. He came to an area marked the Commander's wing and turned down it. He could feel the confusion, wariness and disapproval coming off the group traveling behind him. He walked down the hall until he came to the room next to the door with his crest on it, his room. Turning into the room next to his he walked past the private bathroom and past the medical cabinet he often used to treat his own injuries and over to the bed. He set her down delicately on the big bed, a bed made for two, a bed with a beautiful view of the Gardens. He was surprised to see it was nighttime and that the moons seemed to e laughing at him, enjoying his pain, _'and old curses heeded'_, it flashed through him like a lightening bolt. Then it was gone. He moved back form the bed shaking off the odd feeling and letting the healers by him. He stood in the middle of the room, arms crossed, watching the healers examine her.

"Ahem."

It came from his right, slowly, letting his displeasure at the interruption be known, he turned to face his companion. He looked over, then down, it was the priest he'd thrown into the wall earlier, which explained the terrified look on is face. He looked at the priest for a long second then deciding not to waste his time Rath turned back to the bed.

"Commander Rath. We need to move her back to her own quarters..' His voice quivered with fear.

"She stays." Rath's voice was impassive.

The little man drew himself up beside him.

"As High Priest of the Granolith. I-"

"am about to get thrown across the room again. She stays here, it has it's own medical cabinet and private bathroom, neither of which east wing rooms have. It has empty rooms nearby for her healers to stay in or constant care and mainly it's the safest place on Antar."

Scorn was flowed out of the little man, "I see no guards."

His patience snapped again. It was notoriously short these days.

Before he was even aware of it happening he had his hand wrapped around the man's throat and was holding him off of the ground. "Guards can be bribed. I have no guards and anything that can get through me well.." He gave a nasty smile.

"Rath!" Zan was there with a warning tone in his voice.

He looked at the priest for another moment then let him drop. He made no move to help the man up. Zan looked at him, searching his eyes. Rath turned away from his King.

"She stays in this wing." Zan's order, sealed, unmovable.

Rath stared at the bed; the healers kept trying to pull off her shoes, her clothes so they could get her in the ice bath. They kept yanking their hands back from the heat. He pushed his way through them and took off her shoes in one fell swoop and started to work on her clothing. A hand reached out to stop him, "Sire, you can't…"

He looked at the healer uncomprehendingly. The healer guided him away, "You can't see her, its blasphemy, defilement. We've got gloves now."

Something kindly, a type of understanding was in the healer's eyes. A look that held understanding, an understanding of how he looked at the girl on the bed, a look that knew his feelings, however forbidden they were. A look that sympathized and didn't suspect the Chosen returned them.

She smiled at him, "Why don't you carry her into the bathroom for us so that we can get her in the ice bath easily."

He looked at her, starting to fall into the shock he'd been holding off. It was all starting to hit him, the horrible situation, one he couldn't fix or help.

He picked her up gently carrying her into the bathroom. She was so pale, his very own fading flower, losing the pallor of life right before his eyes.

He gulped, she was going to die. Then Zan was there, pulling him out of the bathroom, leading him out of the room. Over into the next room, the next bathroom, identical to the bathroom he'd just left. It brought no relief, he felt everything closing in on him, bile rising.

Zan pushed him to his knees next to the toilet. He let it come.

Sometime later he sat back, still shaking all over. Not entirely from the exhausted muscles from the heaves, he'd been through worse physically, much worse. Zan was still there, handing him a cold towel from his seat on the edge of the cleaning recepticle. He wiped his face off, reveling in the cool sensation it brought with it, and turned to his King, his brother in a way.

"What if… What if?"

He found he couldn't finish the thought either aloud or in his mind. He felt helpless, worthless. What was the point to all of this power if he couldn't use it to save what mattered most? He knew his eyes were black for the whole world to see, but for once he didn't care. He wanted someone, but he couldn't have her, may never have her again.

Zan looked at him, "Do you want me to get your mother?"

He nodded his head then let it drop between his knees. For a second they were little kids again, before he had gone to training. He'd been so upset at accidentally killing his first pet with his first bursts of destructive power that he'd run away. Zan had followed him and found him dark eyed in the bushes staring at his hands, having thrown up repeatedly. He'd asked the same question then and gotten the same answer. Why change a tactic that worked? Shortly after the incident he'd been shipped off to training, and to this day he still thought it was because his power had manifested itself as death, as killing.

Zan left quietly and got her. He found some peace in his mother's arms but not much. He was torn for the five days she stayed asleep, despairing worse each day.

She was silent and still the first two days and his heart was cold, frozen in a block of ice. Then the fever took her and she writhed and mumbled a prisoner of delirium. And he was angry those days, fighting and training until he dropped from exhaustion. An don the fourth night, the night the holiday of Lunghsheesad began, the fever broke. And that night he drank himself into a stupor and went home with a woman who looked vaguely like her. After the fever broke her color steadily improved and on the fifth night she woke.

And on the fifth night he was with her.

He walked into her room and released the priest on duty. Slowly he walked over to the bed, afraid of what he might find there. He hadn't visited her yet; afraid that if she died he would only have a broken picture in him mind of how she was in the end. He sat down in the visitors' chair, looking at her from a distant clinical standpoint. Her color was improved and her breathing more steady but he wouldn't let himself hope; often there was a last hoorah before the patient died. Rath was being a coward and knew it so he slowly reached out and took her hand; she deserved someone who could show her they cared. Show themselves they cared.

Her eyes moved under her eyelids and her eyelids fluttered in response. Slowly her eyes opened, they were muddled and confused. Broken mirrors. Slowly they focused on him. He stared back with only one thought running through his mind, '_Please don't let this be a goodbye.'_

"How are you feeling?" He asked for lack of a better question. It never occurred to him to call the healers.

"Sticks." She sounded confused, completely out of it. He stared at her, hoping she hadn't gone crazy.

"Like sticks?" He clarified hoping he'd heard wrong, knowing he hadn't.

She looked even more disconcerted but agreed with him, "Shirai sticks."

Shirai sticks used in hand to hand combat. They'd had a discussion on them the day she got possessed. Something akin to relief passed over him, "Like you've been hit with shirai sticks?"

The confusion hadn't left her eyes, "All over. That's what I said."

She looked so tired, as if even this little conversation was draining her. He seemed to focus on their joint hands for a second, "Ring! He gave it to me, where?"

Jealousy flared through him, burning his veins. Burning everything in his line of sight, inside and out. Who was this he? Rath certainly hadn't given her any jewelry and hadn't ever seen her wear any.

Then another person was there, one of the Chosen, Arhal, the Oracle. He was carrying something covered up, but what got to Rath was the eyes. His eyes showed infinite age, infinite wisdom, and infinite amusement and looked right through whatever they were looking at. Rath looked at him, "How'd you get in, I locked the door."

Arhal shrugged but had amusement sparkling in his eyes. Amusement that Rath had neglected the formal greeting to one of the Chosens, it wasn't as though Rath himself needed to say it. "So you did. I used the wall. Now, pet, you've woken up ahead of schedule, as usual. How do you feel?"

He walked through the wall, one of the odder talents some of the Chosen possessed the ability to pass through solid matter. Ht made Rath uncomfortable so he turned his attention to her answer.

"Sticks." Her eyes closed, she seemed to fall back asleep. Arhal gave him a questioning look.

It was Rath's turn to shrug, "Shirai sticks. She feels like she's' been beaten by them all over. We went through that already."

He smiled as if he found the whole situation infinitely funny, maybe he did. "Ah, I wonder if it's the after effects of the delirium or the medication they have her on. Probably both, her confusion seems intense."

He looked at the package in his hands, an unreadable expression gracing his face. "Oh, by the way this is for you."

Rath confused took it and opened it. The narka plant he'd given her, still blooming. He stared at it, feeling a lot of things at once. He turned towards Arhal. He choked out his question, eyes feeling tight. "How did you know?'

He laughed, "I'm the oracle. Now you'll need to be the keeper of that for awhile, she won't be up to it."

He was interrupted by her voice, "Where's my present?"

Another bark of laughter, "You're the present, pet, the present to all of us.'

"No he present, my turn." He considered her jumbled words for a second then slowly smiled.

"Fine, that's fair. You may ask me any question and I'll answer it."

She looked at Rath for a long time, then turned her gaze back to Arhal.

"Who's Michael?"

Rath felt like he'd been sucker punched. All the air and feelings were pulled out of him. He gripped the stone chair in front of him so hard cracks started to appear in it. He didn't recognize the name she said, it wasn't Antarian but he felt infinitely threatened by him.

Arhal looked at them both, his rage burning him and flowing out of him like lava and her innocent wonder. Her light to his churning darkness.

"You would have to ask the hardest question. He's your future or a possibility of it. He's someone you won't meet for a long time, but you also know right now."

He looked at the pain flowing over Rath's face, the jealousy eating him up at the word future.

He gave Rath a sad smile; "He's not a threat to you, Rath."

She stared at him, "Who are you? Rath's such a funny name."

Fury flooded him, fury followed by despair. She knew this Michael character but not him. He dimly felt the chair break under his hands but it did nothing to quell the fury burning him. Ice was trying to flood his veins but the fury was too strong. All he could hear were words from earlier, '_Everything has its price."_ He wanted to run so badly, flee and pretend it never happened.

Arhal shot a concerned look at him then turned to her. It was obvious he hadn't been expecting this turn of events. He talked to her as if she were a small child.

"He's your boyfriend, but it's a big secret so don't tell anyone."

She looked at Rath for a long time, "I bet I like you very much even though your angry and we fight. But why are you all the way over there and not with me?"

He felt his eyes go blacker than they were. They'd never actually gotten to use girlfriend and boyfriend, it was so much more than that. But here he was being a bad significant other, worrying about his own pain and not hers. Hers physically and being confused, not remembering anything.

He took the few steps to the bed and sat down next o her and re-intertwined their fingers.

Arhal looked at them and spoke with utter certainty; "It'll come back."

He nodded slowly, watching her fall back into an n exhausted sleep.

…………………

Maria's voice was the first thing he heard. "Michael? Michael stop your hurting me."

He looked down at her, fear and confusion from the memory still grasping him tightly. He could feel her in his arms, pressed tight against him. Maria not Q, Earth not Antar. She was all right here, not gripped with pain or loss of memory. He buried his face in her hair, breathing in the heady scent of ginger and roses, while he got his composure back.

"Spaceboy, this is nice and all but your squeezing me a little too tight, I can't really breathe."

He pulled away, a little embarrassed at his intense reaction. He scratched his eyebrow.

Her green eyes looked at him in concern, those same green eyes from his vision. "You, all right?"

He looked around at the group of people staring at them. They needed to know about the flash but not yet. He stood up, taking her with him and walked down the hallway to Kyle's room holding her hand. He shut the door behind them and turned to face her.

"Michael?" He stepped closer to her.

"Shhh. I need this for awhile." Then he dipped his head and kissed her, pulling her close.

……………………….

Tess heard Kyle start a particularly bad joke that included oranges and otters and tuned him out. She was more interested in what was going on in the DeLuca-Guerin loveseat, much more interested. They were staring at each other, Maria having just opened her eyes from when she'd zoned out earlier. There was desperation about their eye lock that fascinated him. Something so intense it was painful to see, she looked mistrustful but had a halo of pure hope clinging to her. Michael's face was one of intense concentration and longing, both physical and mental that showed Tess how deeply he cared about Maria. The intensity of their gazes and their looks mirrored a scene she'd seen once and was about to see again. Tess felt the world disappear.

She and Rath were walking down a hallway and she was carrying a small, warm furry bundle.

"When does the King return?" Rath asked, not really caring about the answer. He was nervous about something but the young queen wasn't sure about what.

"The day after tomorrow if the interplanetary council ends on time. Why didn't you go with him like usual?" She desperately missed Zan but was curios about Rath's motives for staying.

He made a noncommittal noise. He never was much of a talker. "Are you sure she'll like that earth thing, Tav?"

He suddenly looked slightly worried, he'd let her pick the gift for the Siren. She'd insisted, women know women much better than men know women. It was interesting to see the General who faced down armies without breaking a sweat look nervous about giving a bed-ridden girl a pet.

"She'll love it, I promise. It's like a live stuffed animal, I've been hinting at Zan to get one since I first saw them."

He muttered something about her best being right. An idea started to occur to her, a reason for his nervousness. Something Rath wasn't supposed to be doing. Little looks she'd seen Rath giving the girl, odd smiles on his stony face.

She stopped dead.

"You're in love with her."

He stopped walking, his back tensing up. Slowly he turned to face her. His whole body was tight, tense and ready to fight. His face was immobile, no light fell on it, he was a shadow amongst shadows. His eyes were tight with desperation managing to peak through the wall he hid everything behind.

It was all the confirmation she needed.

Compassion stirred in her soul. She knew what it was like to love someone you couldn't be with, someone forbidden. She understood what unrequited love and eternal want was like. It was her deep, dark secret; her eternal sin. And Zan had paid for it, they both had, it was her fault they couldn't Granix. Her sins that forbade that path for them.

Impulsively she reached out and hugged him hard.

"Oh Rath."

He stood there unsure of what to do with her clinging to him. Eventually he awkwardly patted her back.

She pulled away and sat down on one of the many benches that lined the hallway. He abruptly sat down next to her.

"These past few weeks must have been hard for you, Rath. It's why you didn't go with Zan isn't it?"

He looked at her, all calm and controlled fire. "I never said I was in love with anyone, Your Majesty."

She laughed, "Not aloud you didn't."

She tapped her head, "Rath does she know?"

He was looking across the hall, not at her. His voice held a note of raw pain that not even his control could hide. "It's forbidden, Tav, you know that."

Yes she did know that. She learned that lesson all too well.

She spoke softly, her own pain creeping through. "Don't try to hard to replace her. It won't work, it never works."

He looked at her now, in a new light. He knew the event, which she referred to. A night where he had tired to drown his sorrows in woksa and another, but come morning it had only made things much worse.

"Is that what Zan is?"

She thought for a long moment. "No. He's much more than that, maybe in the beginning he was but not now."

He nodded. Silently he stood up, she followed suit and they walked the rest of the way in silence. Outside of her door he quietly took the bundle from her arms. She knocked on the door then opened it.

She walked in and saw the girl on the bed's face-lift in a sunny smile. "Your Majesty what a lovely surprise!"

And then Q saw her companion and the Chosen's face fell. The Queen briefly wondered if she truly wasn't ware of the Commander's feelings or if he been upsetting her with his gruff attentions.

Her lovely voice was strained, "Oh, hello Rath."

He didn't say anything, just looked at her with those hungry eyes. It was slightly scary and Tav could see why he intimidated the girl. Then he walked over and gently set the furry bundle down on her bed. He mumbled something while he did it, but the Queen couldn't hear it from where she stood.

She looked at it and picked the little animal up, gently placing it on her lap. It mewed in response and rubbed its head against her hand. She obligingly began to pet it gently, staring at it in awe. "What is it?"

Rath never taking his eyes off of her picked something up off her bedside table and tucked it in his jacket. Then he answered her in the gentlest voice the Queen had ever heard him use, "It's a _kitten_, as they call it in English. They're baby cats, this one is only a few weeks old. It's a pet on Earth."

She looked up at him, "Earth? That's the planet you've been researching right?"

He nodded and the little cat purred. She clapped her hands. "I love it! Can I keep it?"

He looked at her in a way that said much more than his words were suggesting. The Queen watched the interaction in awe. Rath was almost a completely different person, not exactly different but less guarded.

Tav felt the need to remind the two of her presence, so she spoke up, 'What will you name it Q?"

The Siren guiltily looked up as if she'd been caught being very naughty. She'd obviously forgotten there was a third person in the room. She smiled sweetly at the Queen.

"I don't know what do you think?"

The Queen thought about it for a minute. She sensed there was much more to their situation that what met the eye or what Rath admitted. Perhaps love on both sides, but kept apart by duty.

"Name it after something important, something that represents something you want to be reminded of daily."

The girl seemed to take the words to heart. She looked at the beautiful narka plant on her bedside table that someone must have given her. She looked at the plant a long time then turned to Rath. With eyes only for him she said in a voice like ringing bells.

"I'll name her Narka, for the plant."

They looked at each other. Her face a picture of desperate longing, of need and his the mirror showing pain, intensity and an emotion so strong the Queen couldn't begin to describe it. Their looks were mirroring the future. As the Queen slipped quietly away, unnoticed Tess slipped quietly back into the present.

The last thing she heard was a distant, "How can you be so sure it's a girl?"

It seemed Rath wasn't as different as she'd thought.

……………………..

"Alex do you hate me?" She hadn't meant to ask it but it had come flowing out all the same.

He looked at her with his big blue eyes, "No, Isabel. I just think you're not making the best decisions."

That stung, she'd been expecting a denial of it. But Alex had changed, they all had, he wasn't the same puppy that followed her around. She appreciated his honesty because somehow coming from Alex it all seemed more real.

She looked at his open blue eyes and made a confession, "I'm just so confused. Everyone is telling me things, but all of their stories are conflicting. And Vilandra is pushing all the time now but after what just happened with Maria I'm not sure I trust her. It was blatantly cruel, aimed to hurt. I think Maria can be ridiculous sometimes but I wouldn't purposely hurt her. I'm not like that Alex, I'm not a monster!"

He reached out gently touching her arm, "I know your not."

'_But you are, but you did purposely hurt her.'_ A voice whispered. _'We did'_ and it took her back to a time when perhaps she could have been called a monster.

She was sitting in her private sitting room waiting for him to arrive. Waiting for the plan to be put into motion. Part of her felt a small twinge of guilt at what she was about to do, but the other part, the part that had been lovingly nurtured by Kivar and Nkyot, was stronger. Yet the guilt still remained, she was about to help take a life and destroy another. Destroy a life of someone she cared about deeply, but it was only fair after he'd taken all of her freedom.

She heard footsteps in the hall and quickly swallowed the liquid in her small vial, her antidote.

The door flew open and he stalked in furious. The anger radiating off of him in darkness. "What is this about, Vilandra? An urgent note." He spat it out as if it burned him to say it. Accompanying his words he threw the aforementioned note onto the table at which she placidly sat.

She took her time to look at him. The General's collar was unbuttoned in a sloppy fashion and his hair was messier than usual. His face looked particularly closed and angry, but also held an energy that she didn't usually see there. It looked as though her note had interrupted something. She smiled, it made the effect so much more profound, so much more devastating.

"We have things to discuss Rath." She motioned for him to sit down, he ignored the silent request. He looked at her, still totally pissed with her.

"You _summon_ me like a servant for this? No Vilandra, that's not how this works." He turned to go.

She pursed her lips, she'd expected him to be difficult but also more cordial. No matter how all of this ended they were still engaged and he'd always treated her with some emblem of respect. But she couldn't let him leave, especially not now. Not when the peace of Antar was at stake.

She smiled, knowing he wouldn't go if there was an argument. "I want the guards removed."

Ever so slowly he turned around and stalked back to the table, "There for your safety. They stay."

Once again she motioned for him to sit. Sensing she wouldn't answer unless he did he haphazardly threw himself into the chair. "Remove them, Rath."

It was an order and Rath for all of his training, perhaps because of his training, never liked taking orders. It was why he rose so high, he wanted to give the orders and the only person he took orders from gracefully was from Zan. He bristled at her, "No. That's final."

She smiled at him a baneful grin, "I'm afraid it's not final, _beloved._ Not unless you want your dirty little secret aired out for everyone to see."

He showed no physical reaction, his calm exterior in place, but mentally she could feel his uneasiness. Ah one of the benefits of being an empath. Smiling she asked, "Would you like something to drink?"

He shook his head, still staring at her with those impassive eyes. "I don't know what secret your talking about."

She looked back. "How did she take hearing that you'd slept with someone else while she was on the edge of the abyss?"

A tick started in his cheek, though otherwise his face remained the cold statue. "So that information came through you?"

She smiled, "You didn't answer my question."

He looked moodily back at her, then leaned back in his chair crossing his arms over his chest. They at this hour were still friends, and she could still weasel whatever she wanted out of him.

"No, she was rather distressed."

Vilandra smiled, a bit sadly, his lover would be more than distressed very shortly. But it was all for peace on Antar, The Siren was in the way of that. Her golden voice to valuable in swaying votes to her way of thinking, an untrue solution, and an unfair advantage for Rath.

"I take it you made up from your current state."

He shrugged. So very Rath. Then it was back to business. "So you're threatening me with telling everyone about my relationship unless I take guards off of you?"

She nodded, "It's an effective threat. The church would kill her, or banish her at the very least. You'd be punished and lose the planet's faith, not to mention you'd never see each other again."

He smiled, a cold smile. She slowly realized that his blaze faire attitude had been an act, a façade. He was still the chilly, calculating General. It unnerved her. "You wouldn't do that. By bringing about my downfall you'd lose your precious public. "

No, she wouldn't. But that wasn't what they'd asked her to do, someone else would do the dirty work. She gave Rath a sad smile, "No, I wouldn't. But I have friends that would take care of the problem."

He sat straight up in his chair, sensing the threat. She knew the exact moment he realized it. Knew when he suddenly realized he'd been duped, and the situation had already been taken care of. She glanced quickly at the clock, he couldn't go yet. He might interfere with the plan.

He looked at her, distrust filling his dark eyes. "What are you doing?"

Softly she reached out and grabbed his hand. Quickly, before she could regret what she was doing she stabbed him with the thin needle she had in her palm. "Not what I'm doing, what I've done."

She watched, grimacing inside, as the poison hit his system. She watched as his eyes turned black in panic and he tried to move. She watched as his anger tried to manifest itself in power, but no power would come.

He was frozen and powerless by the temporary fast acting poison she'd stabbed him with. He was finally the statue he tried so hard to be.

His mind was still working though and he pushed thoughts to her, "Why?"

It was hard to keep her eyes from going black, it was for the best but it hurt to cause him pain. He'd had so much already. She answered him aloud, "Because Antar can't find peace while she walks free. Her voice is too strong, too swaying. It would all end going to who she allied herself with. All to you."

His eyes were black now, "Betrayer."

She looked away, she couldn't bear to look at him any longer. Rath was important to her, so very important. But he never loved her, not the way Nkyot and Kivar did, and part of her always resented him for it. They could have fit well, but he was cold. Colder than she could ever be, she'd always assumed he was like that with everyone. And to find he'd fallen for someone else, a child, it had been a betrayal.

"Your child, won't be harmed." At least I don't think, she didn't say it aloud. She didn't need to.

She could feel the panic pushing clouding his brain, the overwhelming fear. She could feel his hatred for her, and for himself. For not knowing any better, for trusting her, for failing to keep his cherished safe. For failing the one he cared about most of all.

He was trying to gain control, trying to keep himself from feeling too much. So he did what he did best, he argued. "She's not a child."

Vilandra laughed, it was so like him to try and distract himself. "Biologically, culturally she's a child, Rath. But then again so was I until 4 passings of the Golden Sister ago."

His voice was bitter, ironic. "Everything has its price."

His panic and fear were starting to overwhelm her. Guilt was starting to eat away at her resolve, even though it was for the good of Antar. She made the mistake of looking at him.

He was frozen except for his eyes, but in those eyes darker than any black could be burned the abyss. She'd thrown his soul into the tortured abyss.

Her resolve crumbled.

She opened his mouth and poured the rest of the antidote she'd taken earlier down, since they hadn't drank anything hers was useless.

'Remember what you love the most'. Her family, Rath was family. She couldn't do this to him. It was time to make her choice.

Instead of letting the poison run its course she'd come back to her family.

The paralysis broke and he got up running from the room. She followed him, guilt wracking her. Followed his frantic movements down the corridors, around corners.

And into the final hallway. She saw the guards sprawled on the floor outside of the room, dead. Then she was in the room, it was empty.

Rath stood in the center staring at the bed where he'd left her earlier, slowly he shot a glance at her over his shoulder. His gaze was empty, full of the pain from the abyss. Full of anger and betrayal. Then he turned and vaulted out of the broken window, hoping it wasn't too late but knowing it was.

She stood for a long time in the room, looking at the reflections on the broken shards from the window. Slowly afraid of what she would see she turned to the bed.

A single strand of hair.

Two drops of blood on the pillow.

And a symbol.

The symbol of severance.

The symbol of death.

She fell to her knees. What had she done?

………………………………….

Max felt everything begin to look fuzzy. Liz looked as if she was far away as he drifted further away into the past.

He stopped pacing for a second to look at the other inhabitant of the King's study. Rath looked as worried as he himself felt, but also preoccupied. He knew what was troubling his lifetime friend, or part of it. He knew Rath was terribly worried and torn up by her state. But then again he was always torn up, except now he was actually showing those bloody scars.

They had important matters to discuss but Rath's health was first. After all what good was a General who couldn't concentrate.

"Rath, how are you?"

Rath turned his hell filled gaze to the King.

"It's like the world is ending." An honest, straight forward answer for once.

Zan sighed, "What happened? I know you slept with Anhal when you got yourself wasted. But what happened after that?"

Rath rubbed his face in his hands, "Yeah that was a huge mistake. I just needed to forget for a night and I knew it was wrong. And I know it will come back and haunt me. Everything has its price or so They say. I went to see her when she woke up yesterday. She didn't recognize me, Zan. She had no clue who I was or what we are. And to top it all off she wanted someone named Michael. It's hell."

Zan thought for a moment. It was possibly the most information Rath had volunteered in a long time. "Michael? Isn't that an Earth name? Michael the Arch Angel or something?"

Rath abruptly nodded. 'Yeah, your right. That's weird."

Zan nodded, Rath's spirits had lifted a bit, enough for him to concentrate on the problem at hand.

"What are we going to do about Vilandra? You heard the message; we've got to bring her back. So far I've put guards on her."

Rath thought for a minute or two. He gave a grim smile. "We track her discreetly, see who she's sneaking off to see. Who she's friends with. We talk to her and if all that doesn't work we overtly follow her or restrict her movements."

Zan initially felt anger; Rath was treating this like she was one of his errant soldiers suspected of treason. Then he felt doubt; Vilandra was too strong to let this happen. "It seems a little too much, Rath. It's overkill, she's still my sister, no matter what the Gods say."

Rath looked at him, that trademark 'I'm not budging you jerk' look. 'Do you put your sister above Antar?"

Zan stared back, thoroughly ticked off. "Do you put her above Antar?"

Rath held his eyes for a long time in a battle of wills, finally he replied. Hating himself and every word he said, "No, I put my duty to the world first."

Zan looked at him; he'd won the battle. "But you wouldn't want her treated like a criminal without proof would you?"

Rath snapped back, "This isn't about her so don't bring her into it. This is about Vilandra."

Zan could tell he'd hit a nerve. Rath wouldn't even say her name; he was scared to death about her. He spoke softly, "Isn't it thought? Her Gods told us this stuff about my sister, who you grew up with and are engaged to. Isn't it convenient that her divine channeling discredits your fiancee?"

Rath was struggling with keeping his voice calm. "That wasn't her and you know it. She almost died to give us this message, so we can do something about it. You know this isn't some spite or elimination threat. Its serious."

Zan stared at his friend, wondering more and more where his loyalties lay. "No, Rath. I don't know it. I know that' she's desperately in love with you and would do anything to keep you from marrying."

"By the First Order, Zan! You're avoiding the issue, we have to focus on Vilandra."

An idea occurred to Zan, one that would solve all of his problems.

"If you're so worried about Vilandra, I'll make her your problem permanently. I'm moving up the wedding."

There was a beat of silence while he watched Rath's face closely. It completely closed off, no emotion showing anywhere, which meant he was at his most emotional. For a second his eyes burned black but a blink and it was gone. His friend could have been a statue made of stone, except statues didn't have blood running down their wrists from self inflicted cuts.

"I won't do it." His voice wasn't loud, but it was hard as stone.

Zan met his eyes; they were cold and dead. "You will, you said you put Antar before her."

The façade was cracking, crumbling to pieces. His eyes were black and he looked as if his dog tags were choking him. Rath was unraveling at the edges.

"Please, Zan." His voice cracked.

In all the year's Zan had known him Rath's voice never cracked. Not during the awkward phase of puberty where Zan's own had squeaked constantly. Not to mention the fact he'd used please. Rath hadn't voluntarily used that word, when not in his mother's presence, since they were children. Since before his training, since ever. He always gave statements, orders; formalities were a waste of time to him.

He stared at Rath, letting disdain fill his voice. Rath couldn't stay like this, it was too dangerous. He had to face the reality that he was marrying another. "It's not the end of the world. You can keep her as a mistress after the marriage."

He expected anger but he didn't expect the fist that connected with his face. Or the one that followed. He started to expect the one after that but got hit before he actually finished expecting it.

Gathering his wits about him he rolled away from the out of control Rath. He'd finally snapped.

Zan kept rolling as the fists crashed through the chair next to him and rolled after that too. Finally he stood, throwing a glass of icy beverage at Rath before putting his hands up in a gesture of peace.

Rath seemed to come back to himself slightly but still had that dangerous hellfire aura about him. He stood there dripping wet and Zan had never been more scared in his life, somehow even dripping wet he managed to intimidate.

"It'd be your sister who was the mistress, Zan. Not the other way around." He said it softly, with icy control. And somehow, somehow that was scarier than when he was emotional and out of control.

Zan considered Rath's statement. He could make them marry, but Rath's heart wouldn't be in it. He wouldn't care or look after his sister and he'd hate Zan for it. Hate him constantly. He sighed; he couldn't lose Rath or take him hating him. "I won't move the wedding up. I'm sorry I said I would, I just can't believe Vilandra would do something to hurt Antar. But we do need to watch her, I'll keep the guards posted and you can have your men follow her discreetly. No more than that without my express permission."

Rath nodded, still hanging onto his anger. "Did I break anything?"

Zan knew this was a close to a peace offering or friendship he would get. Rath wasn't sorry he'd punched Zan and wouldn't apologize, if he were sorry for anything it was for losing his control.

Zan shrugged, tenderly feeling his jaw. 'Nope."

Rath turned to go Zan couldn't leave it like this. "Rath?'

He turned around. "I really am sorry."

Zan gestured to the room, indicating everything, all the week's events and what had just transpired between them. It wasn't his entire fault, but that didn't matter.

Rath looked stoic. "So am I, Zan. So am i. But everything has its price and it looks like it's our time to pay."

Zan nodded digesting the statement. Still rubbing his jaw as Rath walked away.


	19. Chapter 14

Author's note: ok, so i'm sorry this took so long but i was caught in AP testing and finals week! To make up for the extreme delay this part is twice as long as usual and pretty packed with happenning stuff! I dearly dearly want to thank all of you for reading and reviewing. It makes my day and i often go back and reread them. But its 2 am and i want to sleep, so enjoy!

Collision Part 14 Boulevard of Broken Dreams

"_I walk a lonely road_

_The only one that I have ever known_

_I'm walking down the line_

_That divides me somewhere in my mind_

_On the border line_

_Of the edge and where I walk alone"_

_Green Day- Boulevard of Broken Dreams_

Max started back into the present, still unconsciously rubbing his jaw. Liz was looking at him with a worried but clinical gaze. She flashed him a brief smile when she noticed that his gaze had landed on her. He smiled back then turned to look for Michael. Neither Michael nor Maria were in the room. He looked at Alex and Isabel, who seemed to be in a strained conversation. They would be no help; they had issues that needed working out. He then looked to Kyle and Tess. Tess had her head on Kyle's shoulder and looked groggy. She saw his gaze and smiled at him, "I had a flash thing. I was just telling Kyle about it."

Isabel looked up; "I had one too."

Max narrowed his eyes, "Me too. Weird, where's Michael and Maria. I wonder if they had them too?"

Kyle stood up, "I think they went into the back, I'll go check."

Max nodded and Kyle walked to the back. They weren't in his dad's room or the bathroom. He knocked on Tess's room, formerly his room. No answer. Shrugging he opened the door…

……………….

Michael was in a state of bliss. Maria's lips under his, her body pressed close. It had started out as a need for comfort, a kiss to reassure himself she was still there, still his. It had quickly escalated into something much more passionate, and much more satisfying.

He wouldn't give this particular moment up for anything, not for the shoving in his mind. Because Rath was shoving and pushing, he wanted control. He wanted this moment to be his and Q's, but Michael would have none of it.

This was Michael and Maria's moment, not anybody else's. This wasn't a time for them to take over and frolic, they could do that another time. And because Michael was so intent on the feeling of Maria all around him, and on ignoring everything else, he missed the knock at the door.

Kyle eased open the door, slightly wary of anything that Michael and Maria might be doing that was quiet. He had reason to be concerned.

He stared in disbelief at the two teenagers on his former bed. He'd spent many nights praying that his bed would see some action and now it was…. Except it didn't involve him. Michael's hands were in places that would definitely give Amy DeLuca a heart attack.

Slowly Kyle reached a hand up to cover his eyes. He figured that if he was going to interrupt he'd give Guerin one less reason pound him for seeing anything having to do with his girlfriend.

"Um, guys…"

He heard a curse or two and some frantic scrambling as they separated.

"You can uncover your eyes now Kyle." Maria's amused voice called out.

She looked wild, her long hair was all mussed, her big lips even more swollen and missing the trademark lip-gloss. Kyle shot a quick glance at Michael, most of the lip-gloss had ended up on him. Kyle couldn't hold back his smirk.

Michael bristled at it, "Got a problem, Valenti?"

Kyle debated telling him but decided not to, Alex needed to see it to clench the bet. Instead he just fiddled with his collar while looking at Maria. She got the hint and quickly fixed the buttons she, or Michael, had misbuttoned up while his eyes were still closed.

"Max wants everyone in the living room, apparently all of you aliens had vision flash things. Maybe cereal is like paote for y'all."

Michael just looked at him like he was particularly slow while Maria perked up. "I had one too! But it wasn't very nice."

Michael looked at her with a look Kyle couldn't interpret, all he could tell was that it looked more intense than usual.

Michael abruptly looked back at Kyle, "We'll be out in a minute."

Surprised that it didn't hold any of its usual rancor Kyle nodded and left he room. He stopped outside the door and with a positively evil grin poked his head back in, "No more than 5 minutes, or I tell Tess just what you were doing on her bed."

A magazine hit the wall next to his head and laughing he left.

Michael watched Kyle leaving with a mixture of annoyance and amusement. Once he was positive Kyle was gone he turned back to Maria, she was staring at him with those big green eyes. He couldn't handle it if anything happened to her, not like it did with Q. He gently reached out and pulled her close enough that he could rest his forehead on hers.

They sat like that for several moments, silently facing each other with their foreheads pressed together. It was peaceful but the moment had to end.

He opened his eyes at the sound of her soft, tentative question, "Michael what did you see? What scared you so bad?"

His first reaction as to open his mouth and refute her last statement, deny that he'd freaked. He opened his mouth to do it and it hung like that for a second before he shut it again. He didn't have to lie to protect himself, not here, not now, not with her.

He felt her thumbs gently caressing his cheekbones silently encouraging him, but not pushing. He met her gaze, she was looking at him with eyes full of concern. Sometimes it still got to him that she actually cared. It got to him because she didn't have to care, not like Max or Isabel. When you're the only 3 aliens on a planet you kind of have to get along.

He found his voice still worked so he broke the peace filled silence. "You almost died and I didn't know if you were going to make it."

He trailed off, suddenly finding it hard to speak. All of the pain and insecurity he'd felt earlier were still there. It was still raw and bleeding after 55 years and a new planet. Some things are too intense, too pure to ever really get over.

"How?" her hushed voice broke him out of the pain.

He gave her a sad sort of smile. She'd always been curious.

"Delivering a direct message from the Gods. It was a form of possession and the power it took was never meant to pass through mortals. It left you in a coma for days and after that you were weak as a kitten. You couldn't even get out of bed."

Michael couldn't imagine Maria unable to get out of bed, or how she would pitch fits or handle it. The thought almost made him smile. Some sort of recognition passed through her eyes as if she remembered part of it. She was still stroking his face softly and he found it soothing. Soothing and compelling; compelling him to dump it all on her. To let it out, a form of therapy, because she was strong enough to take it for the both of them.

"After you woke up you were delirious."

He gave a bitter laugh. "Totally garbled. You couldn't talk coherently and when you could you asked for me."

Another bitter laugh. Confusion clouded her gaze, a much softer kind than he'd seen so many years ago. "I don't understand. You sound upset that I wanted you."

He needed to touch her. He reached out to caress the freckles that graced her cheekbones. It was calming, he was still coming to terms with everything he'd seen in the flash now that he was less freaked. He'd seen Maria's eyes, Maria, looking out from Q's face when she was getting possessed. She'd asked for him, present day him.

He gave her a wry look, "You asked for me, as in Michael. Not Rath, and you had no idea who Rath was. He, I, was jealous, absolutely crushed. He, I, broke a chair in the devastation and fury that followed. It was like they'd erased us."

If possible she looked even more confused, "How is that possible?"

He looked at his hand resting on her face, the two silver rings he wore glinting back at him. He shrugged replaying it in his mind again, now he was even more positive it had been Maria, not just Q talking when she first woke. Something else occurred to him, she'd asked for a ring, been completely frantic over it. That was purely Maria, the frantic hysteria over an object, Q, he somehow knew, was calmer and less prone to histrionics.

He pulled back from her so that he could see better. He pulled off the ring he wore on his ring finger. He grabbed her hand, studiously not looking at her face. With Maria and with Q he'd always known what she was feeling when she loved him and when she was happy, sad or annoyed. She was always open for him to read. Rath had always struggled with showing Q how much he cared and was always wondering if she knew how much she'd meant to him. If she'd known that she'd been the only light in his dark world. He'd made the same mistakes early on, trying to show her how much she meant in his own awkward ways. There'd been going to get her food at the motel when she'd been hungry, the napkin holder and the shampoo plus conditioner (which he knew she'd used anyway) and all the times he'd tried to protect her. It wasn't enough, she didn't really know, she got the message but not all of it. He didn't have the words to tell her so he'd shown her.

He didn't have the words now either, but if a ring was important to her. Important enough that she'd flip out on another planet over it he'd give her one.

Embarrassed and still avoiding her gaze he pushed it onto her thumb and used his power to make the small size adjustment.

He let go, supremely self-conscious. Now it was awkward, he kept avoiding her eyes while he counted the breaths she was silent.

He wanted to tell her that he loved her. That he was terrified he'd lost her, that he couldn't go on if she wasn't there. That he didn't go on when she left. He wanted to tell her that and so much more but he didn't have the words or the guts to say it.

One breath.

He had the feeling she was waiting for him to say something to explain himself, but he couldn't. He couldn't get the words out.

Two breaths.

She was staring at her hand, then at him. What if he'd messed up somehow? Melted the ring to her finger and now she was in desperate pain.

Three breaths.

He was starting to really believe he'd screwed everything up for good when he felt the impact of her throwing herself at him. His sprawled out on his back with her squeezing the life out of him and the big happy Maria smoochie kisses were getting flowered on his face. He felt his face begin to burn in embarrassment and needed to end this. He shifted in her grasp with a groan and gave a gruff, "Maria geroff."

She hung on for a few more moments either in joy or just to annoy him, he wasn't sure. Still uncomfortable and extremely embarrassed that he'd just given a girl a ring he stood up not quite looking at her, but not missing the happy smile that graced her face.

"Kyle's waiting." He motioned to the door, noticing the loss of the ring on his hand. He heard the gruffness to his voice he often used to cover up his embarrassment and emotions. He got to the edge of the room when her voice stopped him.

"Michael."

He turned around, cringing inwardly at whatever emotional thing she was going to say. She was walking towards him with an expression that was almost smug.

"Yeah?" he had no idea how unsure his voice sounded to her.

She smiled at him and took his hand in her own.

"I know."

He turned away and started to lead her down the hallway. She knew, she understood.

He smiled, but not where anyone could see.

Sometimes, just sometimes, they didn't need words.

…………………………..

Max watched Michael and Maria walk in. Maria was grinning her head off in a giddy happy state clutching Michael's hand. Something was odd about their clasped hands but Max couldn't figure it out. So he, along with the rest of the room, looked at Michael.

Or more specifically looked at the raspberry colored lip-gloss he still had smeared on his face and lips. Max stifled a laugh opting for a smirk and a quick glance at Liz instead. She was bemused at it and it was the old connection they shared, Max and Liz against the world.

Michael oblivious to his makeup threw himself on the loveseat; sprawling out and lounging like a panther. Like he owned it, Max had always envied Michael's skill at that. His innate ability to take whatever space he was in and to own it, dominate it, make it his own and make himself seem imposing. He was always on his own ground.

He was being gracious with his space today, granting Maria just enough room to curl up by his side like a kitten. He smirked at all of them, as if to say he owned the space and had the girl while the rest of them were pathetic.

They hadn't lost physical contact since coming into the room; it was odd because Michael and Maria were never the big public display of affection kind, leaving those moments for private. But when things got intense he always kept her near. Not the big cuddling or stare into each other's eyes kind of near, just a strong arm thrown around her or a casual knees touching position. Michael was very private by nature and extended that to his relationship with Maria, if they held hands in public it was under the table where nobody else could see, because he didn't want to be seen as weak. His actions and philosophy had always confused Max.

The silence was broken by Kyle's obnoxious voice, "All right, Whitman pay up."

Alex grumbled all the while as he took his wallet out, "How did you know?"

"I'm the master." Alex obligingly, if grudgingly, placed a crisp 10-dollar bill in Kyle's open palm. Kyle snapped it a few times to show off then still grinning pocketed it.

Michael was annoyed; they'd interrupted him for this? If that bet had been about him and Maria, Valenti and Whitman would pay. He scowled, the effect broken by the lip-gloss.

Tess giggled then motioned at her mouth, "Michael…"

He scowled deeper this time as he blushed slightly. Maria looked at him and mortified noticed her lip-gloss. Everyone knew what they'd been up to. She grabbed a tissue and attempted to wipe his face off.

That only made his embarrassment worse, he knocked her hand away, she wasn't his mother. He scowled at her and took the tissue away and did it himself glowering the whole time. She stifled her giggles, or tried to. He just glared at her and leaned back into his seat, not happy that he was the butt of a joke. After a moment though his mask was back up, and he was back to owning the love seat daring anyone to say anymore about the subject.

Once Maria quieted she curled back up against him, but he made no move to acknowledge her gesture. He let her sweat about it for a moment wondering if he was really angry. Only when she stared to pull away did he wrap his arm around her, securing her. Max caught the smirk on his face that managed to say that he'd won the little dominance battle.

Sensing that everyone was now settled in he felt it was time to begin, "Michael, Maria, so far the rest of us have had a flash this morning. I'm assuming you tow did as well."

They nodded so he continued, "We need to first talk about what we saw because they're probably related, then try and find the trigger."

All their heads bobbed in agreement. Michael look at them, "I'll go first."

He glanced at Maria before continuing, "There was a council meeting and Q came in to sing some sort of opening blessing. Except she never got to do it. Instead she got taken over by the Gods. -"

He pulled Maria tighter to him casually, remembering the pain she'd felt during the possession. "- And gave us a message. They told us to save the Lost Royal who was straying and if we saved her we could save Antar."

Alex interrupted, "Wait, who was the Lost Royal? I thought y'all were the royalty."

He looked at Alex, "We were."

His eyes flicked over to Isabel, "But one of us was lost."

Isabel dropped her eyes, remembering her own vision. Everyone got the message; the Gods had been talking about her.

Michael picked up his story again, "Then the Gods told Zan that he would pay for his decisions. Then they told the priests they weren't focusing on religion. Their message to me didn't make much sense except they stressed that 'Everything has its price'."

He paused for a moment letting everyone absorb what he'd said while he composed himself for the next part of the story.

He didn't look at anyone, couldn't, instead choosing to focus on the wall across the room. His voice was soft and filled with old anger and pain; "She almost died after the Gods left her. She was in a coma for 5 days and filled with delirium for days after she woke. She didn't recognize Rath, no idea who he was but she wanted me. Wanted to know where I was.'

There was no question who the she was that he was talking about. When Michael talked there was only one she.

"What do you mean by that?" Max was confused. Michael's brown eyes flicked to him, wry amusement covering the pain.

"Q asked for Michael, for me as I am now."

"How is that possible?" Alex was flummoxed, silly aliens.

"I know! She had a magic time machine…." Kyle piped up.

Michael just shrugged, "She was delirious, who knows where her mind went when the Gods took her body. All I know is that it screwed her up big time, she was crazy and weak."

His voice got softer and he kept his eyes trained on the wall, carefully avoiding everyone's gaze, especially hers. "So weak. She couldn't get out of bed for over a week."

Liz wanted to change the subject, protect him from the pain in an odd fit of compassion. She'd never been particularly fond of Michael but she still hated to see him in pain. She was also curious, "What do you mean by crazy?"

He shut his eyes as if trying to remember. When he opened them they were darker than normal, a cross between the two beings that lived inside him. Those dark eyes turned to look at Maria, full of emotions that were hard to identify. Glimpses of pain, sadness, pity, joy and understanding might have been seen swirling through the mask he wore. His fingers started to idly play with her long hair hanging over her shoulder of their own accord. As if one, or both, couldn't bear not to touch her at that moment.

It was a private moment, one that was embarrassing and almost painful to watch. As if sensing the scrutiny those eyes turned back to Liz, "She was…. Disoriented, not always sure of the when at first. Sometimes it was like she could read minds. She would say things, almost prophetic. But they wouldn't make sense, like pieces of a puzzle, but they weren't all from the same puzzle. Eventually some of what she said made sense, but by then it was all too late."

His face was suddenly dark, filled with a pain that hadn't healed. That may never heal one that he couldn't hide.

"She said… she said that I would go on without her. That after she was gone I'd be OK. She died first."

He turned to Maria again, filled with anguish and a hungry desperate look. But held within that desperate look was another one who was fighting it, trying to keep her safe, keep Maria for this life and this life only. The fighter won and he turned back to Liz. "I think that some of what she said was meant for this life."

"Like what?"

He shrugged, "The Grasshopper will break the mirrors of time. Antar doesn't have grasshoppers."

Michael blinked and was alone in his gaze again; he turned along with everyone else to look at Kyle.

Kyle put his hands up in a sign of I don't know. "I won't touch any mirrors."

A few smiles at his comment then Max said, "I think mine happened right after yours. So I wanna go before we discuss it, in fact I think we all should go."

People nodded in agreement. He looked back to Michael; "We had an argument."

"So what else is new?" Michael was back to his regular rude, sarcastic self. No signs of the maelstrom that had been in his eyes only moments before, if it still affected him it was well hidden.

Max glared at Michael's smirk, 'You were upset because she didn't recognize you when she woke up earlier that day amongst other things."

He glanced at Maria then at Michael; Michael had given him a slight nod, knowing what he would say. "You'd gotten drunk and slept with someone while she was in the coma and hated yourself for it."

Everyone looked at Maria to see her reaction. They saw nothing; Teflon babe was in place. She'd picked up Michael's trick of hiding everything but what she wanted people to see. It still hurt but she knew about it beforehand so the hurt wasn't as bad, the cut didn't run as deep. Feeling Michael's intense gaze and nervousness she looked up at him, giving him a small smile. He wasn't the one who'd cheated on her with Courtney. He might share DNA but he and Rath were different people and she knew that Michael wouldn't make the same mistake.

Max was relieved that Maria hadn't flipped out, or murdered Michael on the spot, talked on. "We talked and you got better so we started talking about how to save Vilandra. I had guards on her but you wanted the whole shebang, guards, following her, restricting her movements. I didn't like it, it was too much. We argued about Vilandra and Q, then I told you I was moving the wedding up. You got really cold, then I said something supremely stupid and Rath lost it and beat the crap out of me."

"Old habits die hard, eh Guerin?" Kyle's voice rang out, alluding to the violent episode in the school quad with Vicky.

Michael glared at Kyle, "Keep it up Valenti and you next."

Maria ignored the macho banter being tossed back and forth. Maria was curious, what could have made her cold controlled paramour crack? Totally lose it enough to hit the King, his king. His control was legendary, carrying over into his next incarnation.

"What did you say?"

Max winced, "I told Rath that he could still have Q as a mistress after he got married."

Maria felt Michael tense up, he was ticked, she could feel his anger radiating out from him. She was stunned; he'd actually said that about her. Tess piped up, 'You deserved getting hit for that."

Max shrugged, "I never said I didn't. Zan still feels bad about it, but he wanted to trust Vilandra. He was angry at Rath for not trusting his sister and wanted to last out at him."

Maria watched the uneasy glances they were shooting at Isabel and felt sorry for her. But she also felt vindictive as if she deserved it, but if she was going to look at Rath and Michael as 2 separate people then she needed to look at Isabel and Vilandra the same way. She sighed the memory weighing her down, keeping her from being happy.

She looked at Michael's ring on her thumb and spun it around; it lifted her spirits because it reminded her that it all worked out in the end. Still staring at her hand she spoke up, "My memory flash is from the same time period I think and relates to Max's."

Maria looked up and met Isabel's eyes. They were filled with guilt and sorrow from whatever the past had shown her.

"I was in a bed and felt really weak and restless. I was sad because Rath hadn't visited me in days and then Vilandra came to me."

She took a deep breath and dropped her eyes back to her hands. It still hurt, that old betrayal still burned. "She wasn't like she usually was, sweet and nice. No she was cold and brought up all my insecurities about Rath. She knew about us and it terrified me, and she said what Isabel told me earlier."

Maria paused; she didn't want to say it aloud. It hurt too much; the truth stung her soul. Isabel said it softly for her; "You make each other miserable."

Maria nodded, "And you could tell that she really believed it, everything she was saying. Believed it was best for everyone, for the greater good. Then she showed me an Antarian tabloid with Rath and a woman on it. She told me that he'd cheated on me. I felt horrible because I didn't understand, I didn't understand what he was doing with that other woman."

Maria was still staring at her hands so she wouldn't have to look at anyone. Everyone's faces showed different things. Isabel's, Isabel was over come with guilt. What kind of monster had she been that she'd crush the pure girls dreams then make it so she could be kidnapped? She stood up approaching the loveseat warily, avidly avoiding Michael's heated angry gaze. She squatted down in from of Maria, so that she was looking up at the other blonde.

"Maria, I'm sorry. So sorry… I don't know what to say or do to make up for Vilandra."

Maria gave her a wan smile; "It wasn't you, Isabel. You and Vilandra are different people, we all are. We aren't our pasts doomed to make their mistakes."

Isabel couldn't find the strength to smile back. She was still worried but she had to tell her family. "I hope you still believe that after what I have to say."

Still talking to Maria she avoided Michael's gaze as if it burned. "I betrayed you, you and Rath and everyone else. But you most of all. I thought it was for the good of Antar, that it would bring peace. It didn't and I was a fool, love's fool."

She shook her head, bitter laughter bubbling out, now the hard part came. Actually repeating what Vilandra had done, it made bile rise in her throat. "I sent a note to Rath demanding his immediate presence. He came and I distracted him, I told him I knew about you two but he was smart. He caught on to the plan. So I had to poison him, I stabbed him in the hand with a paralyzing agent. I felt so guilty that I eventually gave him the antidote but by then it was too late."

Isabel knew she had tears in her eyes, threatening to spill over. But she forced the last part out word by word.

"You were gone, Nkyot had taken you prisoner."

She was crying now, tears running silently down her face. Maria, for all of her fear and disgust, still reached out towards her. Her hands were angrily knocked away as she was pulled back. Then Michael's angry cold face was leaning closer. His eyes were so cold, the color of midnight black.

"Stay away from her, betrayer."

"Michael!" Max was standing, terrified of the cold hate he saw in those eyes. They flicked his way,

"You aren't my King." Oh God, it wasn't Michael. It was an angry Rath talking. Last time they had met angry Rath someone almost died, almost only because of the combined efforts of 5 guys.

He raised his hand, palm facing the now terrified Isabel.

Then Maria was there, wild eyed and terrified, pushing herself in front of him. She was half hugging him but completely blocking Isabel, his extended weapon of a hand pressed over her heart. He'd have to kill her to get to Isabel.

Everyone watched in a frozen state as Maria clung to her crazy, murderous boyfriend. Everyone was too terrified to interfere but her.

"Michael… Rath.. please." She was begging, almost in tears.

"Move." His voice was still cold, frozen in ice. He wouldn't push her out of the way though, wouldn't raise a hand to her.

She pressed closer to him the panic making her heart race so that he could feel the beating in his hand. She was wrapped around him now hugging him close with tears brimming in her familiar green eyes. Rath had seen those eyes before, a long time ago.

"Rath she's not Vilandra. Please." He was weakening, his arms wrapping around her to hold her closer.

"She gave you up to be killed." Those dark eyes were boring into her, willing her to understand; to remember. It wasn't entirely Maria speaking anymore. Now it was both her and Q pleading for Isabel's life, Maria and Q's pain blending together. Crying desperately at him, "I knew it was coming. I was dying anyway. I did it for this."

"For what? You killed me, I'm shattered still." His voice rose in tone to match the poignancy of the moment.

Hers followed suit, martyrdom showing through. "For Maria and Michael. She did it in the name of love."

They clung to each other for another heartbeat before receding. All that was left were Michael and Maria left standing a foot apart panting.

Max's voice rang out, "Everyone better?"

Maria emphatically nodded, "I put her to bed."

Kyle rolled his eyes at the thought of Maria putting a naughty Q to bed. Michael shrugged, "He's sulking in a corner."

"Good." Max kept his eyes trained on Michael.

Which caused Michael to roll his eyes, "I'm not in a murdering mood."

He glanced at Isabel, scratching his eyebrow. "Sorry about that."

He sat back down but Isabel was still clinging to Alex, terrified and in tears. She was struggling with getting control over herself.

"Excuse us." Alex mumbled while leading her out of the room. Michael's cold eyes followed their movements. Maria put a hand on his arm only to be shaken off. He wouldn't be placated so she pulled back hurt.

Sensing the tension and wanting to share the only happy memory of the group Tess spoke up. "I think Rath and Q reconciled from his infidelity before she got taken."

All eyes turned towards her, Michael's voice was still chilly but she knew that there was hope beneath that ice. "Why do you say that?"

She smiled, 'My flash. Rath and I were walking to visit Q and he was really nervous about the gift I'd picked out for her."

"What gift?" Maria's eager voice interrupted. She loved getting presents even if she didn't remember.

Liz rolled her eyes at her friend, "Don't interrupt Maria."

Tess smiled, "It's OK, Liz. It was a kitten from Earth ("I love kittens! You gave me a kitten!" she twirled to Michael and gave him a big kiss on top of his head, which he ignored.) we'd been researching the planet and had some animals. Anyway I started to get suspicious of Rath and figured out he was in love with her. I confronted him and he was all noble and unrequited love. I never suspected she returned the feelings or that they had a relationship. We got to her room and Q was stiff with Rath, I thought he intimidated her. He gave her the kitten and she got super excited, like Maria does with presents. Well anyway she decided to name it after something she anted to be reminded of day after day. She named it Narka for the plant and they got all gushy. I left. Does the plant have any significance?"

Maria looked almost misty eyed, she nodded. Michael didn't show any reaction other than to stare at the still standing Maria. Tess smiled, happy to have brought some good news.

Kyle was babbling beside Tess, "You aliens are seriously screwed up. Special plants, espionage, intrigue, spaceships, possession and powers. It's like some sort of bad hippie mystery."

Tess laughed, "Perfect for the Scooby Gang. Except we use spaceships instead of the Mystery Van."

He grinned at her, "Hey your right! I hadn't thought of that! But I want a mystery van, let's make it a secret code!"

Michael sat up, "Mystery van can mean the Granolith. We shouldn't have anyone know when were talking about it."

Kyle nodded, "We've got a mystery van, woo hoo!"

Liz stood up, "Well some of us Scooby members have to work to earn a living. Maria, its time to suit up and serve alien themed food to the masses."

"Who'd want to miss that?" Michael asked.

Maria rolled her eyes at his sarcasm and started to walk away. He grabbed her wrist, so she turned back to him. His eyes were full of things he couldn't find the words to say and wouldn't say aloud. He simply said, "Be careful."

She nodded and they left.

……………………….

Maria hadn't stopped smiling since their shift started and Liz was dying for details. Finally there was a lull and they were both behind the counter. Maria was dreamily cleaning the milkshake machine and Liz was wiping counters.

"So spill, you've been grinning like a fool!"

"Have not!"

Liz flicked the towel at her, "You're doing it right now."

Maria laughed then smiled again, "Michael."

She practically sighed, Liz smiled. "Ah yes. Mr. Gruff and Tough, the Lone wolf, Shaggy, the Silent warrior.."

She went on until Maria butted in, 'We really have to stop letting Kyle coin nicknames, they're horrible."

Liz nodded, enjoying the moment of normalcy with her best friend. "Agreed, so spill."

They were so focused on each other that they didn't notice the third waitress lingering over getting coffee for a customer.

Instead of answering Maria held out her hand for Liz to see for herself. She knew Liz wouldn't believe it if she told her.

Liz stared at Maria's hand, or more specifically at the new ring that sat on her thumb. She was in shock, a total nonMichael move had occurred. "That's Michael's ring."

Maria nodded happily. "Yep, he you know" she wiggled her fingers suggestively indicating his powers, "to it."

Liz was still confused and also a bit sad. It was something Max would do. "But why?"

She paused realizing what she had said could be taken the wrong way. "I mean, it doesn't seem like something Michael would do. A total non-Michael move in fact, he's the guy who gave you shampoo plus conditioner for convenience…"

Maria laughed, not offended in the least. She understood what Liz meant. "It's not, but he was so freaked out by that last flash. I mean totally freaked, he got all clingy. Which is like a dream come true but alas a total rarity."

Liz nodded, biting back a comment about the lip-gloss that had been all over his face, but she'd seen how frantic he'd been when he first came out of it. Practically crushing Maria then dragging her off.

Maria continued on, "Michael and I we're not like you and Max. We're not good with words, especially Michael. I think he wanted to tell me how he feels about me. He has to use actions to express himself."

"Or art." Liz said, thinking of his geodesic dome painting.

Maria nodded thinking of her napkin holder. "So he gave me his ring. I also think it had something he saw."

Liz thought about it, "Makes sense, but then again everything is different now. Were all changing, even Michael."

The door chimed signaling new customers, they looked up to see who the customers were and where they would sit out of habit. It was ax and Michael slipping into the back corner booth. Both waitresses smiled. Liz said, "You can have them."

Maria narrowed her eyes, "What's up with you and Max?"

"Nothing." She pushed her hair behind her ears.

"Spill, chica. When have I ever bought nothing?"

Liz laughed, "After I take their orders."

But she was beat to it by the 3rd waitress, the sunlight catching her blond hair.

"Courtney got them. Stupid cow." Maria spat out.

"Whoa! Do I sense some hatred?" Liz was a little surprised at the venom in her friend's voice.

"Yeah. I just don't know Liz. I can't stand her, and I don't know if its Q or me. I look at her and rage just bubbles up inside.." She flailed her hands helplessly in the air, waving her cleaning rag around like a maniac.

Liz looked at her with searing brown eyes. Always there to anchor and back up her flighty best friend, "Is it because Michael kissed her, or I'm guessing that she's the one Rath slept with? You were jealous of her over summer when Michael was paying attention to her, are you still jealous?"

"No, yes, I don't know. I know how he feels about me, but knowing that she's a little Michael worshipper and working with him while I can't do anything hurts."

Liz reached out and embraced her friend, not having words to put her fears to rest. Maria hugged her back. "Now about Max."

"I'll tell you after you refill table 7's coffee, he's out."

Maria laughed at the avoidance tactic and set off with the coffee to. Feeling eyes on her she involuntarily turned towards the back corner booth. He was staring at her.

She smiled, detouring over to their table. She spared a glance for her Girlfriend Max who was staring at Liz. Then he had her attention again, "Hey."

"Hey." He replied. It was odd being in public, putting their walls back up. It had been such an emotional morning and they'd come along way in their relationship.

"How'd it go after we left?"

He shrugged, "Kyle made a fool out of himself, then I dominated at Playstation."

She suppressed a smile, he was such a kid. So proud that he was good at video games. She couldn't keep the smile off so she turned to Max.

"Just go talk to her, take her out."

Max looked up at her, "I don't know, it's too soon. I don't want to mess anything up."

She rolled her eyes, "Girlfriend, listen up. I, as Liz's best friend and your romantic counselor for the past 4 months, am instructing you to go talk to her and make a move."

He blinked at her, realizing he was fighting a losing battle under her glare. "Aye Aye, Captain Love."

She laughed at his mock salute and watched as he got up and walked over to Liz.

She turned back to Michael, he was still staring at her.

"So." he said.

"Are you staying over tonight?" She switched the coffee pot to her other hand.

"Do you want me too?" His voice was neutral.

She switched the pot back to her other hand.

"Mom feels safer when you're there." He opened his mouth to say something but she cut him off.

"and yes, I do too. So yeah, unless it puts you out or something." She suddenly felt self-conscious.

He shrugged totally casual, "You have food in your fridge, I don't. It's all good to me."

She smiled at him seeing right through him.

"If you want a tip from that guy you better go fill his coffee up."

She nodded, unfazed by his curt responses and twirled away, to table 7 feeling his eyes on her all the way.

……………………

Fonbar looked at the jail cell wall and sighed, this wouldn't do. This body was no longer useful to him; it was trapped and imprisoned. She'd been imprisoned once and it had led to her death. He'd hated prisons ever since, and feared them. Feared they would steal away what he wanted most, and it was doing it. Prison was keeping her from him again, except this time she was free while he was locked up.

He needed to see her again, she was like his drug and he needed a fix. Craved her sunny open smile and sparkling eyes, desired the taste of her raspberry lip-gloss and the sweet smell of her hair. How could he win her over if he didn't talk to her, how could she realize her love for him without interaction?

He let his mind drift away from Victor's. He floated freely, unattached; he'd check the Crashdown, where she was probably working. All he needed was an open mind, one with a loophole. One who wasn't pure, who looked at his Maria and found her attractive, one whose thoughts she occupied. Because she always was in his thoughts and if she was in another's then their thoughts were in tandem; making it easier to slip in and take root.

He skimmed through thoughts and saw through eyes. She was working. In Rath and Michael's mind she was everywhere. Thoughts about her floating around and swirling in patterns, feelings and moments with her Fonbar had never experienced.

But it was too crowded already, besides he wasn't brave enough or stupid enough to try and invade that mind. Though to have those memories, actual knowledge of her, lips and body willingly pressed close. Oh the possibilities, but his jealousy was too strong to consider that mind. Besides he'd have those experiences soon enough.

After skimming almost all of the minds he came across an interesting one, possibly a helpful one. It was almost a mirror of his own obsession except it was obsessed with another. The mind was from Antar and it was a shrine, a shrine to Rath, to Michael. However much he hated and detested Rath he could recognize the potential for use. It had been trained in him so many years before in that hellish training. If she wanted Rath, they had a common goal; the goal to separate Michael and Maria. This, he would have to look into, but first he needed another mind.

He found one in the body of a common place looking record store worker. He was attracted to her, eyeing her legs sticking out from her short skirt. Eyes following her around the diner while waiting for her to refill his coffee. Slipping into the man's pliant mind he took time to adjust to his surroundings. After he was settled he looked around in his new body. She was over in the corner leaning on a booth with the fluorescent light shining on her blonde curls.

Envy and longing flashed through him like a knife, so sharp that it made him bleed, but it was a familiar pain so he overcame it. He stole his eyes away from her blessed form long enough to look at her companion. Rath, or as he was now, Michael. Fonbar wasn't sure which incarnation he hated more. Rath had led him, made him into the warrior he had become, and because of that part of him would always be loyal to his leader. But a bigger part, a stronger, the grief crazed part, hated him. Hated him for giving him the gift of his Uron bond and letting Meta die, breaking their bond and shattering him. And part of him hated Rath for stealing away the one thing, the one person, who had helped soothe his broken soul and help him begin to heal. But Rath had taken what he couldn't have, what no man was supposed to have. He'd defied the Gods and turned her pure heart to him. And his beloved Qaelia went willingly into the devil's arms themselves, forgetting all about him and walking willingly into the flames of her own death. But Rath paid and Fonbar had felt no pity when Rath was shattered, shattered much worse than Fonbar had been at his loss of Meta.

Then there was Michael, Michael who she'd left Antar to have a chance with. Michael who she fell for long before she remembered her past. Michael who had the same possessiveness over her that Rath had had. The possessiveness that had Michael almost killing him over touching her. Michael who seemed to attract her, who she'd die for, yes he knew all about the little offer Nkyot made. Yet, he also held no loyalty towards Michael, which made the hatred more pure.

He watched them talking, her almost nervous shifting of the coffeepot to his gruff demeanor. He couldn't take it, couldn't take watching Michael talk with what should have been his. He glanced elsewhere, back to the blonde waitress who was watching the two of them with an almost desperate look of longing for him and hatred for her. His eyes slid back to the booth in the corner of their own accord.

He couldn't take it anymore, he stuck his cup out and raised his voice slightly, "Can I get a refill, miss?"

She turned away from Michael to come to him. He triumphed; he had taken her from Rath. She walked over to his table smiling absently; most likely with thoughts of what might have been if Rath hadn't interfered.

She refilled his coffee cup in one graceful movement, a small tinkling of her rings hitting the ceramic of the mug as an accompaniment.

He smiled her beatifically, this was bliss for him; her smiling at him, waiting to do his bidding. As if her thoughts were running in tandem to his she asked, "Is there anything I can get for you?"

A loaded question, one that he had so many answers for. Fantasies were there ready to abound and run free. He suppressed them, he could have fantasies any time, but the real Maria and Qaelia was a rarity.

She was looking at him expectantly, waiting for some sort of answer. He smiled easily back at her and replying in a flirty voice, "Everything, Mi Noella."

He hadn't meant to say the last part, the old endearment meaning "my light". No, it had slipped out and that was his mistake.

She froze, her body involuntarily tensing up at the endearment. She recognized it, or some part of her did, recognized it and associated it with who he was.

She was afraid of him, terrified and that hurt. Hurt almost as bad as her betrayal of choosing Rath over him. But not as bad, because he understood why she was scared. He hadn't meant to hurt her, not at all but it had been so long. He was disoriented from first reaching across the galaxy with his mind, now he was used to it but then he wasn't. His anger and irrationality had been a combination of the disorientation and stress associated with mind control, and his tumultuous feelings of having his first real glance of her in fifty-five years.

So yes, she was scared and he understood that, but all he needed was a chance to explain. Explain to her what happened and then it would be all right, they could be together once he got Rath out of the way. Yes, everything would be perfect after all.

HE focused his attention back to her and away from his reassuring thoughts. She was staring at him; her eyes big and scared like a deer in the headlights. He glanced over to where he knew Rath was watching her, he was always watching. Michael was screeching back his chair; his body tense and radiating tightly controlled danger. He was staring at Maria, his eyes calculating the situation from her body language. It was one of the first things taught in the training, how to asses a situation by body language and emotional climate. Fonbar had learned the same thing and knew he only had several precious seconds to act before Michael was at his table, most likely about to kill him. He leaned forward frantically; "I can explain just give me the chance for old time's sake."

His words seemed to rouse her to action, she blinked at him then glanced at Michael, Rath. Why did she always have to look to him? It was her life, her decisions not Rath's. Watching her it was painfully obvious what was going on behind those green eyes. She was thinking about Michael, about the deal she'd been offered his safety. He felt anger rise in him, it was always about Michael or Rath.

She looked at him and whispered in a low voice, "Fine. Meet me Tuesday, here. 6:30"

And then she pulled away and in a louder voice said, "That wasn't funny, you gave me such a fright with your talk of parasites!"

She skittered away, it wasn't the best cover story, but it did stop Michael several feet away. A look of brief confusion crossed his ace and then with one last glare in his direction he walked after Maria. Fonbar was filled with admiration for his sweet Maria, her willingness to give him a chance to let him explain. Her heart was so pure, even after tainted by Rath's filth. So giving, so willing to trust him. It made him love her even more, admire her more, Maria. Maria was something else. Qaelia wouldn't have thought that fast, wouldn't have been able to mislead Rath. She was too pure, unable to lie. He smiled one last brilliant smile at his Maria and studiously ignored the fact Michael was talking intensely to her, lecturing her with his hand pressed down on her shoulder. It looked painful; he was always so rough with her, manhandling her and not treating her like he should.

Slowly he let himself recede form the mind, happy about seeing her Tuesday. He receded with her lovely face filling his vision and mind.

……………………….

The customer's head hit the table with a resounding slap as he went limp. Michael stopped talking in a mid annoyed "Maria!"

They both turned to see the guy Maria had been talking to passed out cold. Maria hissed at him, ending their argument "Not now, Michael."

And walked off to get back to work, calming customers and checking on the man while Liz called for medical help on the phone.

Michael stared after her in disbelief, still thoroughly riled up as she walked away. She wouldn't tell him what her terrified freeze up behavior had been about. It bothered him, it was so like the behavior she was just starting to get over, the way she acted after she got slapped around by Fonbar. Something was up and he bet, no he knew the instinctive way one always knows one's enemies, that the unconscious man had just been possessed by Fonbar.

He walked after her, not caring that she was working, he wanted answers and he was never known to wait patiently.

"Maria!" He called in his most annoyed voice. She spun around, obviously not liking being addressed as such in public. She stalked over to him, leaving the till she'd been working mid transaction. "I get off in 15 minutes. You will wait until then."

And then she was gone, stalking off again. He glared after but knew an ultimatum when he heard one. He threw himself into a stool at he bar. He rolled his eyes looking up, expecting to see Liz in the teal uniform but instead found Courtney. He repressed a groan, he really wasn't in the mood to deal with her or her advances.

She smiled at him, "Fluffbrain blowing you off already?"

He almost growled at her. "Anything to report?"

He'd almost retorted, "Gotten the message that I've been blowing you off already?" but then realized it wasn't strictly true, he had let her kiss him.

She looked at him, annoyance flashing across her features. "Always business first with you and play later. But no, there's been no meetings or news."

He nodded, sensing that she was telling the truth about the meeting. But he needed to be clear with her, this was just business. He was with Maria, and wouldn't ever be with her.

"Courtney" he said in a particularly condescending tone as if speaking to someone particularly slow, "It will always be just business. I'm with Maria."

She almost scowled but smiled instead. "Did you mention that we kissed again before you gave her that ring? Or did you just forget to tell your jealous _girlfriend_?"

He narrowed his eyes, 'That's none of your business."

Now he was even more annoyed with Maria, running her big mouth off about the ring. That was supposed to be a private moment, but why should he expect Maria to keep anything private?

She shrugged, "Whatever you say, Mikey G. Just remember hell hat no wrath like a woman scorned."

He looked stonily back, his face betraying nothing. Then Maria came out of the back room, already changed and walked over still pussy. "Let's go."

Her voice was short and that only irked him more. He got up and Max and Liz walked over to them.

They looked ridiculously happy, the 'we're in the first bloom of love' all over again. Michael shot a quick glance at Maria and saw that her mood had darkened at the happiness on Max and Liz's faces.

Max smiled at them, "We're gonna go to a movie if y'all wanna come."

Michael just shook his head, "No."

Then realizing how short he'd been he tried to fix it. He didn't want everyone to know that he and Maria couldn't even make it through one day without fighting. He rubbed the back of his head, "We've got plans."

Maria managed a smile at Liz before Max and Liz left. Maria looked at him and walked out of the diner. He followed and found her leaning against the Jetta's passenger side. She tossed him the keys and silently got in the passenger seat.

He got in and turned to her, "Where are we going?"

She was looking out the window, "Somewhere we can talk without fear of being overheard. "He thought about it for a second then the answer came to him so he started to pull out.

Now it was her turn to ask, "Where are we going?"

"The Mystery Van."

Maria gave him a blank look. "You realize that Scooby Doo is just a cartoon, right?"

He rolled his eyes, "It's code, Maria. Weren't you listening at all at Kyle's?"

She didn't respond, she was still upset. He scratched his eyebrow starting to feel bad for always being so short with her. "They Mystery Van is code for the Granolith. Kind of like you Liz call us Czechoslovakians."

"Oh." Was her only reply to Alex and Kyle's wonderful code.

He didn't' say anything, or want to get in an argument while they we're driving so he turned up the radio. With metal blaring they rode toe rest of the way each lost in their own thoughts.

They got there and Michael got out of the car, slamming the door harder than he meant to. He almost winced, his thoughts briefly touching upon all the alien related trauma the Jetta had been through, much of it at his own hands.

They walked up to the entrance, he glanced around. Surveying the area like it was natural, without a second thought. Satisfied that it was safe he opened the door, keeping Maria behind him in a protective gesture. Just in case. It was empty, so they went in. Maria looked around, "Michael where is the Granolith, this is just where you hatched."

He rolled his eyes, did she always have to refer to it as hatched? Emphasizing his words he replied, "The Mystery Van is through my pod."

She looked at him, then shot him the pure 'I'm a spoiled little princess' look he'd been expecting. He smirked at her.

"You mean I have to crawl through…. Through that?"

She turned to him, "Aliens are so disgusting."

He rolled his eyes again and smirked at her, "After you, princess."

She tossed him one last disgusted look and crawled through the hole. He crawled after her.

He looked over at her while he was standing up. She was open mouthed, staring mesmerized lost in wonder and the past. She turned those big wonder-filled green eyes to him as he stood next to her.

"Michael… Its… it's really here."

He put a hand on her shoulder, remembering his own first reaction to seeing it again. "I know."

She smiled softly at him, their minds and souls dancing in complete harmony for a moment. Then she drifted away, gently touching the walls and staring at the cone in the middle. She stared at it for a minute and then gently touched it, a small smile on her face. Then her eyes wandered over to a spot on the floor, one to the left. Her expression saddened infinitely as she stared at it.

Michael steadfastly looked at her to avoid looking at the spot on the floor. He wasn't sure he could handle another vivid reminder of her death, his shattering just then. He watched as emotions slid across her face, old pain flaring up. He watched her carefully as tears started sliding out of her eyes, he couldn't take that either. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder, turning her into his chest.

She buried her face in his chest, clinging to his shirt. He let her cry there, let her sobs wrack both their bodies, holding her while she let it out. Held her in the same supportive way she'd been there for him earlier in the day. The same unassuming way she'd help him while he sobbed after Hank. He held her tightly absently rubbing her back as she cried for them, for what might have been, for herself and for him, for Rath. He knew, as Rath knew, that most of her tears were for him, for the pain she'd caused Rath with her life and her death.

He listened to the echoes of her muffled sobs, feeling oddly empty. Oddly empty of the pain he knew he should feel, had felt for so long. Listening to her cry was in a way a release for him as well. He had no tears to give, but hearing her violent sobs and feeling the wetness in his shirt was soothing. It helped soothe away the old anger, dull Rath's ever present pain and let go of the animosity that had burned in him so long. Her tears started the healing process, his healing process, both of theirs.

It seemed like they stood there locked in a moment of forever, a moment between then and now, a moment that time forgot. Eventually the moment drifted away as her sobs quieted into hiccups.

This wasn't how he'd wanted it to be or how he'd imagined their first visit to the Granolith would turn out. She eventually lifted her tearstained face from his chest and looked at him for a moment, totally open and vulnerable. Before he could even react she'd turned away, embarrassed, breaking the tender moment. She was wiping her face off with her sleeve and rubbing at it, trying to erase al signs of her tears. Oddly enough he didn't want her to, didn't want Teflon Babe who would try and pretend it had never happened.

"Maria" he struggled with what to say, how to tell her he didn't want her to pretend it didn't happen. "It's OK"

"No, it's not! I shouldn't have broken down like that." It wasn't quite the snap she'd meant it to be, it lacked the usual venom and her trembling voice was so different from her usually self assured one.

He turned her around to face him, as gently as he could. "It's OK, really. This place… it's got so many memories floating around."

She still wasn't looking at him, "You hate emotional stuff."

Her lower lip started to tremble, matching her voice, "I'm sorry."

He lifted her chin up, so she had to look at him instead of the floor. "Maria, it's OK, I don't hate it that much when it's you."

She gave him a tentative smile, she really was adorably attractive when she was upset. It was one of the reasons he rattled her cage so often.

He guided her over to the wall and they sat down. He leaned into the strength of the wall gratefully. They weren't done getting emotional he knew. It had been such a long day, one full of so many surprises and emotionally charged conversations. He sighed, not really angry with Maria anymore. He couldn't be, not here, not where they'd gained so much then lost it. It was impossible to waste time here being angry with her, it felt so wrong. Plus her crying, her broken sobs had drawn the anger out like poison. It was impossible to be angry with someone when they were sobbing like the world had ended, especially when they were sobbing over you. Or when they clinging to you as if you were the only thing between them and total insanity. He suspected that right then he had been the only thing there for her, her only life support.

He looked over at her, she was back in control if still a little puffy eyed. She didn't seem to be angry anymore either, just exhausted. He'd have to remember the anger sapping qualities of the Granolith for the next time she was thoroughly angry with him.

She was staring at the cone, it's flashing colors playing over her face. "I can't believe this is here. It makes it all seem more real, as a sort of confirmation for all the craziness in my mind."

"It didn't seem real before?" He was curious, getting stabbed is a pretty concrete experience.

She shrugged, "Not really. It's starting to hit me now. Before it seemed like a long, surreal alien related dream."

He was almost worried, 'it's starting to hit me now.' Were never words you wanted to hear come out of Maria's mouth. They usually proceeded a hysterical babbling breakdown, where she repeated herself, hyperventilated and suddenly couldn't cope with the existence of aliens. Yes, he'd been hiding on Liz's stairwell when she'd totally flipped after getting stabbed. It wasn't pretty.

So he watched her closely, "Are you about to have a breakdown?"

She gave him a wry look, "I'm too tired to have another breakdown. They're ridiculously tiring to have, you know."

He agreed sarcastically with a smirk, "Yeah, especially for the people in the room with you."

She made a small noise of indignation and gave him a light slap on the shoulder. He fake scowled at her. This was what he missed, the easy arguments with no real rancor behind them.

She rolled his ring around her finger, and it made him remember his earlier conversation with Courtney.

"Did you tell Courtney about the ring?" He didn't ask it in an accusatory way, just a tired way.

She looked surprised, "No, I try not to talk to her if I can help it. But Liz did ask about it at work." She looked slightly worried.

"And I can't lie to Liz, it's part of the best friends code. Maybe she overheard or something."

He scowled at her, "girls."

She shrugged, "You and Max are just as bad."

"We don't talk personal, well Max yearns over Liz but I ignore him."

She laughed, "I think we all ignore it."

He nodded. She looked at him with a suddenly serious expression on her face.

"Michael, you have to promise not to get mad or interrupt."

He looked at her and nodded.

She was looking at the cone again instead of him, "Before I tell you what happened I want you to know why I did it."

She paused for a second, pressing her lips into a tight line. "I'm terrified of him. Terrified of what he did and what he will do again. I was starting to feel safe because he was in jail, locked away where he couldn't get me, while I was out here with you to protect me. That changed today. I was scared and helpless all over again. I suddenly realized he wasn't locked away, he wasn't safe. That every time I look into someone's eyes I might see him staring out of them, that it will never be over if I don't do something about it."

Michael sighed, unable to stop it from escaping or fight the feelings of hatred he held for Fonbar. He'd seriously messed Maria up. And the feelings of pity anger and helplessness he felt about her fear. Michael hated feeling helpless, he'd felt that way for the past 10 years because of Hank and not knowing his past, he had only just begun to get used to not feeling like it. And he didn't ever want to go back to feeling helpless or having Maria ever feel that way. He wanted to protect her from that, protect her from everything he'd been through, protect her from the world.

"So today when I saw him, when he stared out at me from that customer's eyes I froze, then I got it together and decided to do something. So I told him to meet me-"

"Maria! NO" he exploded. He wouldn't let her do this, wouldn't stand for this. He wouldn't let her parade into danger.

"Michael! Just listen, OK? I'm going to be bait but I don't plan on doing this alone. I can't let him run free, we need to figure out whether his body is here or on Antar and if it's on Antar, I'm scared. But he loves me, in some twisted sick way like Isabel said, and I can manipulate that love. Probably into coming here so we can dispose of him."

He stared at her impassive face. He rubbed his own face in frustration, "Maria, I can't let you do this. I forbid it."

"It's not your decision to make. You can help me or not, but you can't stop me."

Maria stared at him angrily. He was a mess of roiling emotions, wondering why he had to fall for such a strong willed girl. He stared at her, able to feel her terror and pain at the old event. Finally he made up his mind.

"You're not alone. We need to talk to the group about it. But I will be there."

"Michael you can't be sitting right next to me, that might terrify him."

"I don't care. Maybe Isabel can mind connect us or something and I can be in the next room." He spoke without thinking, without remembering that he'd almost murdered Isabel earlier.

She looked uncomfortable; "I don't really want her in my head. Besides we've already got a connection so maybe we can just activate this.'

He nodded slowly the crossed his arms in frustration. "I hate this. This is stupid."

She looked at him hearing the helplessness in his voice. "Michael."

She crawled over to him, "You've saved my life twice now and constantly protect me. Maybe its time you let me save myself."

"I don't like sharing.' He was feeling slightly better.

She laughed, leaning closer. "I think we all know that. Seriously I need to do this, to beat him. But I also need you there, supporting and protecting me."

He looked at her earnest face, "We'll talk about it."

He smirked pulling her closer, "Later."

……………..

Fonbar watched as the blonde Antarian waitress left the Crashdown. He got up, leaving the cost of his coffee and then some, and followed after her. He followed her discreetly until they were in a residential area, away from the crowds. Then he dropped into step with her, she glanced up and tried to continue walking undisturbed.

He almost smiled, "I believe we have business together."

"Get lost, loser." She didn't even glance up.

This time he did laugh, she had no clue who he was. If she did she wouldn't have ever said that to him, his reputation of being unstable to strong.

"You want Michael, I want Maria."

That stopped her dead in her tracks. She turned to look at him so he merely quirked his host's eyebrow. He'd picked an unassuming body, one that could blend into a crowd, one that didn't look as though he was particularly powerful.

She looked at him for a long moment then looked around, "Not here, follow me."

He nodded his acquiescence and followed her down the block into her home. She locked the door and quickly checked her house then she sat down, "Please sit. I'm curious to know more about this.."

He sat taking his time to stretch out to agitate her and remind her that he was in power here. "like I said earlier I want Maria, I've wanted her for a very long time. Rath and now Michael have been in the way for entirely too long, now its my turn."

She looked at him, her shrewd eyes digging into his own, "And you can't eliminate him on your own or you would have done it already. You're not strong enough. You're also the one who attacked Maria, then in turn the guy who Michael almost killed. He's a very protective man, you know."

He stared at her, wanting to choke her, but focused on preventing the tick that wanted to start up in his cheek instead. "Protective yes, of you? No, at least not yet. Yes, that was me and a misunderstanding."

She scoffed at him but he kept talking over her. "But Maria is willing to forgive and forget. She's agreed to meet with me, but she's still rather deluded about Michael."

Courtney nodded thinking that Michael was rather deluded about Maria. "You want them broken up, apart so that she's so angry with him she's willing to go to you. So that you can make her love you."

He nodded, surprised she was that swift on the uptake. "And so that you get Michael, he'll have to be distracted not to pursue her. Furious with her, furious enough that he'll turn to you for comfort. It's a win-win situation for us."

She smiled, a dreamy gleam shining in her eyes, "I get Michael….."

He smiled at her, knowing he was persuading her. "And Maria is out of your way."

She looked up, suddenly looking scared. "I've sworn my allegiance to Michael. I can't act against him, he'll kill me without any regret."

Fonbar thought about that for a second. "I'm not asking you to turn against him, I'm asking you to persuade someone else to break them up. We just need something or someone that could do it."

She looked gleeful, "Michael and I kissed after they'd gotten back together and I know he hasn't mentioned it to her."

He nodded, he knew that already but wanted her to tell him to test her loyalty. "That would get Maria mad but we need to get Michael angry with her. Right now he's all about protecting her. She'd have to do something drastic, ideally cheat on him. Especially with someone Michael always felt inferior to, like the King."

Courtney shook her head. "She'd never go for Max, he's with her best friend. I can't tell her what happened, she wouldn't believe me. But if we had Michael, or someone who could pass as Michael tell her then her anger would be directed solely at him."

"Shapeshifter?"

She shook her head and walked out of the room. Fonbar waited in a state of curious frenzy until she came back. She handed him something triumphantly.

He looked down at the picture in his hand.

Slowly he smiled, "Perfect, he'll do just fine. Are you sure you can convince him?"

She smiled, "We've slept together."

"Perfect, she'll be done with him after this."

Courtney gave one last triumphant smile.

…………………..

They were all crammed into Michael's apartment on Sunday night for a history cram session.

"That Jennings is pure evil. A 3 chapter test in the second week of school! I haven't even opened my history book before tonight!" Maria was riled up and tired of staring at a boring book of United States history.

"Well, Girlfriend if you'd opened the book you wouldn't be so bad off now." Max joked with her, happily basking in his position on the couch next to Liz. He dodged the eraser thrown his way with ease and a laugh.

"I wish a redcoat would shoot me now." Kyle exclaimed, equally as fed up as Maria was.

Alex shrugged with a machivellian grin, "It'd probably just get you an extra essay on your personal experience with a British soldiers.'

Tess laughed, "Remind me to never let Jennings know I lived in England."

"You lived in England? When? That's so cool!" It was Liz and Maria.

Tess shrugged, "Nacedo took me all over the world while we were hiding. I was 10 when we were in England for 8 months. Then we went to Paris."

Isabel smiled wistfully, "Paris, I've always wanted to go there. Especially for the fashion."

"And the food." Maria piped in.

"food.." Alex got up and happily went over to the kitchen and started opening cabinets. Everyone watched as he opened empty cabinet after empty cabinet.

"Guerin where is all of your food!" He sounded frantic.

"We're foodless?" Kyle sounded depressed and hopeless and was wearing a kicked puppy look.

Michael rolled his eyes at Kyle's despair, "I'm out, I've been staying at Maria's remember. I said we should study there but nobody listened."

Maria made a face, "Did you really want to see my mom and the Sheriff getting all mushy? She invited him over for dinner and pie."

"Ewww." Kyle made a face, "I still want food though, this is a total emergency. Buddha says we must attend to the needs of our body before advancing our minds."

Maria looked at Kyle, "Wasn't Ghandi Buddhist? You know the guy who starved himself….."

Tess rolled her eyes at the two of them and dug around in her purse. She pulled out a candy bar triumphantly and handed it to Kyle. He ripped into it like a starving child and attempted to thank her through a mouth full of food. It came out roughly as, "I muv you, Tesh."

Isabel gave Kyle a disgusted look, eyeing his bulging cheeks. "Your disgusting, Kyle."

Alex looked at her hopefully, "Do you have any food, Isabel?"

She extended her disgusted look to include Alex too.

Maria laughed at the scene before her happily exclaiming, "Boys!"

Liz smiled, tapping her book. "Back to studying now.."

Kyle put on his best pout and Tess frowned, 'It's break time! We've been studying for 2 hours Liz…"

Before Liz could reply Michael shut the book he hadn't been looking at in the first place with a resounding clap and shoved it off the table with his feet leaning back. Michael Guerin 1 US History 0.

"We have more important things to discuss."

He was looking at Maria who was sitting on the floor near his legs. Everyone followed his gaze and Maria twirled around to look at Michael. She stared at him for a long moment then turned back around. He took it as queue to begin talking.

"Fonbar decided to visit Maria at the Crashdown while she was working yesterday."

Isabel shuddered, "Are you OK? He's so creepy and totally obsessed with you."

Michael looked at her, he still didn't fully trust Isabel. He saw Maria awkwardly nod, not entirely comfortable with the other blonde herself.

"Maria, what are we going do? We can't let him keep stalking you, you'd never be safe." Liz was concerned for her friend. Always ready to look out for her curly haired blonde half.

Maria nodded, "That's why I agreed to meet him on Tuesday."

"What?" There was burst of brief pandemonium in the room over the outrage of her meeting him. The only people untouched by the storm were Maria and a surprisingly calm Michael.

Max looked at Michael, "Why are so calm about this?"

Michael shrugged, "We discussed it already."

Maria smiled, helpfully supplying the real truth. "What he means is he already threw his fit."

"I need a muzzle for you." He said to Maria. She shrugged, not minding his teasing in the least. He'd never really get a muzzle for her, he loved her constant talking too much even if he'd never admit it.

Max looked at her then looked at Michael for a long time, thoughts running through his mind. Flashes from his memories of how Rath had been once she was gone. Then still staring at Michael he talked to Maria. "You can't do this Maria, it's to dangerous."

She stood up, "Don't look at him when you're talking to me Max."

"Maria, I."

Max started to flounder for words, "You're still not going."

She took a threatening step towards him, "Newsflash Max, I'm not an alien and you're not my king. You don't get to make my decisions for me."

She was so angry and emotional that she was to the point of almost shaking. She couldn't take it a deep breath, couldn't take it at all, and couldn't ever take him touching her again. Her fear was too strong, filling the back of her throat and it made her angry and defensive with Max, he was standing in the way of her protecting herself.

She felt arms reach out and yank her down from around her middle. She stiffened up, she didn't want to be touched. Slowly she realized it was Michael and let herself try and relax. With his arm keeping her on the couch and away form attacking anybody he talked, "Look, it's nobody's call but Maria's and mine. She's doing this and I'm helping, the rest of you can do whatever you want."

His eyes dared them not to help her, to even try and say no, to see how far they got out the door before he got them. There was a moment of silence then Kyle spoke up, "How is he meeting you?"

She shrugged, "I dunno, snatching a near by body I guess."

Kyle took a deep breath, "I'll sit with you and he can snatch my body."

Tess looked at him, "Kyle, what? You might get hurt."

"But we might learn more. It'll look suspicious if Maria's talking to some random guy, Roswell is a small town. We don't need any more notice, everyone's been watching us ever since Michael beat up Victor. Besides if he's in my mind maybe I can be in his too."

"That's so brave." Tess was all but cooing.

"Kyle… you don't have to do this." Maria was suddenly becoming nervous, she didn't want to put anyone else in danger.

He shrugged, "If you can face him, I can let him be in my head."

"I'll do it instead of Kyle." Alex piped up.

Alex quickly looked at Kyle then kept talking before Kyle could jump in. "I mean I'm always with Maria as opposed to Kyle who isn't usually. If we start screaming people will think it's fairly normal. Besides if Michael has to beat someone up, I'm a lot easier to take down than Kyle."

"NO! It was MY idea." Kyle wasn't about to budge on this, he wanted to play the hero. He'd trained for this, he'd battled evil scorpions.

"But Maria's been one of my best friends forever You can be useful somewhere else, all I've got is my brain."

"No."

"Boys you can rock paper scissors for it. 2 out of 3 games." Isabel stepped in before it got out of hand and turned physical.

"Why I thought of it."

"Just do it, Kyle. Liz referee."

Scowling the boys faced off, circling each other the Scooby Gang brotherhood abandoned as they battled it out like true rivals. Kyle took the first game with rock crushing Alex's puny scissors. But in the end Alex triumphed, coming from an underdog position to take two wins in a row with the unassuming paper.

"This sucks." Kyle proclaimed moodily, thoroughly upset at losing, and losing to a geek at that.

Maria smiled Kyle, "Thanks Kyle, it means so much that you would do that for me."

"OK, so we have a body to be snatched. Now what will everyone else be doing?" Max was stepping into his leader role again.

"Wait, Alex I don't think you should hear this." Liz seemed almost nervous about telling Alex to go away.

"Why?"

"Because if he can be in your mind then he could see what you know, all of our plans."

He nodded, understanding dawning in his blue eyes. "You're probably right, I guess I'll see y'all later then."

He looked sheepish as people smiled and said goodbye and he accepted Maria's special hug with aplomb. Michael merely nodded at him but Alex could have sworn that he'd seen a glimmer of thanks in his eyes.

After Alex was gone they all settled in to making the rest of the plans.

"OK so Alex will be out in the Crashdown, Liz will you wait on us?"

Liz nodded, slipping into planning mode. "I'll be a very attentive waitress and if you ask for coffee it can be code for help. And if you want water everything is all right."

"OK, good idea." Maria smiled at her, loving the verbal code.

"I can mindwarp if anything goes wrong or you need to get away." Tess spoke up.

"OK, you and Mac can be eating in the Crashdown so that you can mindwarp and he can heal if anyone gets hurt." Liz was in top form, this was where she was at her best. Making emergency plans, controlling the situation and beginning to sketch out a map of where everyone would sit.

"What about me?" Kyle asked.

"I want you with Michael. To keep him in line." Maria smiled at Kyle, she was giving him the hardest and possibly most important, not to mention dangerous, job.

"I don't need a baby-sitter." Michael was about to go into a full-blown sulk.

"NO you need a restrainer. If you get riled up and come charging in I could get hurt." Maria almost smiled, it was an effective play on her part. He wouldn't risk her getting hurt and they both knew it, he'd grumble about it but he'd accept Kyle.

"OK, what can I do? Should I try and get in his mind if he won't tell Maria what we need to know?"

Max smiled at his sister, "Yeah, good call. You've already been in his mind so you could probably get in easiest. Just be careful not to go through Alex's mind if you get in."

She nodded, "I won't, I don't want to invade Alex's privacy. But guys what are we going to do about Victor, he's just sitting in jail."

Kyle dismissed it, "Nothing right now, he's not important. I'll tell my dad and he can handle it."

She shrugged and Maria stood up, "All right kids. As much as I'd like to dwell on this upcoming party I've got to work. But do try and think of other stuff I should try and find out from him."

She gave Michael a peck on the cheek, grabbing her book and purse. She was secretly relieved to be getting away, she was terrified of what would happen on Tuesday and didn't want to talk about it anymore.

"I've got to go too." Liz stood up and walked with Maria to the door with Max and Michael getting up to follow them over for last good-byes.

The girls left and the rest stared at the history books for a few more minutes but nobody had the discipline to study without Liz there. Finally Tess stood up, "I'm gonna go too. Buddha boy?"

Kyle got up with her and Michael got up to actually walk them to the door.

"Tess" Michael nodded at her,

"Valenti." He reached out and shook Kyle's hand firmly.

"Thanks." And then Michael all but shut the door in their faces.

Michael walked back to the couch and plopped back down, popped the TV on. He started surfing channels totally ignoring the remaining Evan's siblings.

Isabel hated silence and decided to try for conversation, "It seems to be going well with Maria."

He made a noncommittal sound, which she took as a sign of agreement. "So I'm going to assume she's OK with you working with Courtney even though she kissed you."

"Make your point, Isabel."

"I was just trying to have a conversation, Michael. Gosh is that too much to ask?"

"Yes, go somewhere else."

"Fine, Maybe I will." She got up in a huff and walked out slamming his door.

Max looked at Michael, who throughout the whole exchange hadn't looked up from the TV. "Do you have to be so mean to her?"

He shrugged, "She's fishing and I don't like it. Maria and I is none of her business, especially not now."

"You mean because of what Vilandra did?"

Michael looked over at Max, finally. "No, because of how she treats Maria."

Max almost rubbed his face, "Maria can take care of herself Michael. She can handle Isabel, she's a big girl."

"You don't think I know that Maxwell?"

This time he did rub his face, sometimes Michael's constant hostility was too much. "OK, Michael. Your pissier than usual, what's really on your mind?"

Michael pushed his hand through his hair, totally abandoning the TV. "Maria." "Courtney."

Max sighed, "What happened?"

"You know Friday night, when I was getting Courtney to be my spy?"

Max nodded, he had a feeling he knew where this was heading. "The same night Nicholas threatened Maria."

Michael scratched his eyebrow, "I kissed Courtney."

"What were you thinking, Michael? I thought you and Maria were already back together.."

He rubbed his face, "We were. I just, I was confused with these memories form Rath's past of him and Anhal popping up everywhere. Once I realized what was happening I stopped it, but I'm afraid Maria will find out."

Max was quiet for a moment, "You have to tell her Michael…. If she finds out form anyone else it will only make it worse."

Michael sighed, "I know."

"Was it before or after you gave her the ring?"

Michael rolled his eyes, "Does everyone in the world know? Did Liz tell you?"

Max smiled, "I figured it out myself, there was no ring on your finger and one on hers…"

Michael nodded accepting his explanation. "It was before I gave her the ring, I gave it to her yesterday at Kyle's."

"Ouch." Max said, wincing.

"Yeah."

Michael was quiet, then in a voice slightly above a whisper he asked. "What if she leaves me?"

Max might have laughed if it was anyone but Michael worrying whether his or her girlfriend of maybe 3 days would leave. But he didn't, he understood he was already terrified of something breaking the tender beginnings of a reconciliation between him and Liz. And with Michael it was worse, it was 4 days, a school year and another lifetime. He'd hurt without Maria over the summer and had been a suicidal insane general when she died on him last time. It was also worse because Max knew that, at least in this lifetime, Michael saw Maria as the only person to voluntarily love him and want him.

So he didn't laugh, but he did sigh hating to see that vulnerability that even Michael couldn't completely hide peeking through his eyes.

"She won't leave you. But because it's Maria she'll yell, she'll cry. She may even throw things at you, or have a breakdown. But she won't leave and if she says she will she'll come back."

"How can you be so sure?"

Max smiled. "Because it's Maria. She loves you too much to really leave you, especially now that she's got a reason to keep you. I'm not saying she won't be hurt or angry, because she will. But I'm saying she'll eventually get over it, or just kill Courtney."

He paused, suddenly realizing that the last part might be true.

Michael seemed to be having the same thought but he seemed oddly unconcerned, almost pleased at the prospect.

"I'll tell her."

……………………

Maria got off work and left the Crashdown in a good mood. Anticipating a big long bubble bath to relax in full of lavender bubbles she smiled at the thought. But abruptly dropped the smile when she noticed someone melting off the side of the building. It was dark and she couldn't see who the figure was, she started to tense up in fear.

Then figure came closer and as the streetlight illuminated his face she sighed in relief. It was just Michael, lurking around and lying in wait. She smiled at him, happy to see him, "Don't scare me like that!"

He shrugged looking at her intently. He leaned over and kissed her. It was a long kiss and he was aggressive throughout it. The kiss eventually broke and she smiled up at him in a post kiss haze still breathing hard. Then her thoughts started up again; "You're never this public… unless something's wrong. Like the time you thought you and Isabel were having a baby or the time Max was gone and we were all scared for our lives. Or the time you left me. This is bad, this is so bad. Are you breaking up with me?"

He blinked at her, amazed at how she could go from kiss to babble in 10 seconds flat. He snapped his fingers in front of her face, "Maria focus. I'm not breaking up with you but I do have something to tell you."

She looked mollified but still appeared somewhat wary by merely said, "On the way home. I've got the Jetta."

He nodded and they got in. He simply stared at the car as she repeatedly tried to start it. After the fifth try she slapped the steering wheel in frustration.

"Damnit! Use your secret powers to fix it… wait don't last time you set the Jetta on fire."

He scowled at her in response and said, "I'll walk you home."

She nodded and they got out of the Jetta. He simply leaned against the car looking up at the sky and made no move to start walking. She stared at him starting to feel nervous about his attitude, about how he wouldn't look at her or touch her after that searing kiss.

"What is it you want to tell me?"

He stared at the sky for another moment then dropped his eyes to her. She shivered at the guilt and blankness she saw there. Almost in a whisper he stated, "I kissed Courtney."

Panic threatened to start. Still hanging on to denial she tried to reassure herself, "Yeah when you were at her house before we were together, right? The night where Kyle was playing Lone Ranger in the bushes…"

She trailed off as he looked at her with his arms crossed as if daring her to make this harder for him than it already was. "No, Maria. Friday night when I confronted her."

She started to talk again her voice raising in volume and pitch as her hand movements began to get frantic, matching her shattering control. "Let me get this straight. The night you blew me off, the night I got accosted by an evil alien in a 14-year-olds body, you were snogging Courtney. God, Michael!"

He threw his hands up in the air, "It wasn't my fault. -"

"- Not your fault? Did you trip and fall and your tongue land in her mouth?"

"I was confused, OK? All of Rath's memories of being with her started popping up and it threw me for a loop."

She rolled her eyes, "Oh you were confused. You couldn't tell that her lips weren't my lips, that you weren't kissing me?"

He pushed himself away from the Jetta in one angry movement. He took a threatening step towards her. "Get off your high horse, Maria. It's not as if you've been perfect either."

Two spots of red rage bloomed in her cheeks. Anger sparkled in her eyes, "What do you mean you that? Michael?"

"I'm saying it wasn't my fault."

"Michael."

He looked at her, anger burning in his gaze. "What about Vicky?"

Her hands went into fists and she looked like she was struggling with her anger, as though she wanted to hit him. But she also struggling with something else, her memories. Memories of the night he attacked her trying to run rampant through her mind. She furiously pushed them away, "" can't believe you would say that, Michael. You of all people know how hurt and scared I was and how I had no control over it."

He was still pushing, "But you still kissed him. -"

She was so angry she couldn't see straight or through the bluriness that clouded her vision. Her eyes were tight with unshed tears. "Not by choice, it wasn't my fault. It wasn't my fault."

He was sure if she was saying it to convince him or herself anymore. But he pushed his point anyway. "Exactly, it wasn't your fault. Just like it wasn't my fault with Courtney."

She stared at him not following his convoluted logic. Then the anger and intolerance returned full force. "Don't even compare Courtney to that, Michael. God I can't stand that you won't take responsibility for it. Or apologize. Just.. Just get away form me. It's over."

He matched her movements by throwing his hands in the hair. "I'm sorry, OK? I knew you wouldn't understand."

"No, Michael I understand perfectly. I just don't understand you or who you are anymore. Just leave me alone and I hope she chokes on a bagel!"

He stared at angry, but sick of the argument. "Fine."

She was all but in tears by now. "Fine!"

A single tear slipped down her cheek as she got back into the Jetta and successfully started it and drove off without looking back.

He stood there for a minute enjoying the night and wondering about her. Then another figure slipped out of the shadows. He let the change drop; his clothes melting back into his own torn black ones, his hair becoming a mohawk and his tattoos reappearing. Rath still looked down the road where she had driven off.

"You were great." The other said.

Finally he turned away from where she'd gone. "I wants my payment."

The other nodded, amusement showing on their face. They held out a piece of paper for Rath to take. "Her address with directions from here. Her room faces the street, use the window."

He turned to go. The voice stopped him, "Don't go now, she'll probably throw something at you. Let her cool down."

Rath merely nodded, not indicating whether he would follow the advice or not. Then he slipped off into the night, blending in with the shadows.

…………………………

Maria was sitting at her vanity staring at herself in the mirror and at her hair, which she had meticulously combed. Combing her hair into perfection had helped keep her head empty, away from all thoughts of Michael. Her reflection showed no signs of the inner distress, which had raged earlier, no sign of the frustrated tears she had cried. There hadn't been many, she'd run out of tears over Michael a long time ago. So now she sat dry eyed with a blank stare unaware of her surroundings and unaware of the one watching her.

Even if she was aware and had looked she still wouldn't have seen him. He was shrouded in shadows, hidden away where he could watch her in peace. He was used to living in secrecy, lying in wait, and keeping himself well hidden even from friends. When night had fully fallen and the moon risen he felt more in his element, more ready to leave the protection of the shadows.

He slunk forward until he was at the window and paused feeling reminiscent of another time he'd gone to her window in the middle of the night. He shook it off and carefully lifted the unlocked window. He had half of his body through the small opening before she noticed.

And when she noticed it was like a bomb going off. She leapt up all but screaming at him, "No! No, you're not coming in my room. I don't know you. Get away."

As she yelled she ran over to her bed and grabbed a baseball bat and started swinging it wildly around with her back to the wall. During her frantic movements he had time to get all the way through the window and put his hands up in a surrender gesture.

He was staring at her in a hostile but quizzical way, "Why you gots that bat?"

The question threw her off and it took her a moment to spurt an angry answer at him, "Protection from creeps like you! Now go away you shapeshifter before I use it on you."

"I ain't no shapeshifter. You must be wiggin out, I can explain."

Still looked wary and had a tight grip on her bat, but blurted out. "You look like Michael but freaked out."

He grinned at her, "I ain't no pansy like Roswell boy. Look there were two sets of pods. One here in Roswell, your Royal four, and the other went to New York. Dig?"

That only seemed to upset her more, "Of course, there are more aliens! Just great."

Her laugh was just shy of hysterical, "I still don't believe you, and even if I did I'd want to know why you were here."

He took a step forward blinking at her. "You sure talk hella fast. I'm here because I found out youse was reborn, catch it? I'll prove it to ya who I am."

She narrowed her eyes staring fixedly at his nose hoop, "I catch it. But who exactly are you?"

He gave a full out grin, both at her tentative use of catch it and her loosening up. "Rath. His reincarnation, just like your Roswell reject. Youse got your memories of last life."

She nodded, the bat lowering some.

"Epic. Do youse remember the time I first showed you Earth?"

The bat raised again,. "No you're lying."

He scratched is eyebrow, the same way Michael did. "Damn, youse don't gots all your memories from last time. Does ya?"

She shook her head. He made a face and then he got an idea. "Chicks dig weddings right?"

She nodded confused. He smirked, "I'll prove who I am. I'll show you our wedding from last time."

She dropped the bat in surprise and made no move to pick it up. She simply stared at him while emotions ran rampant through her. Eventually curiosity won out.

"You can do that?"

He rubbed the back of his head in exactly the same way Michael did, it fascinated her. "Well it'll be from my point of view, bit it may spark yours, you dig?"

She nodded, starting to get excited about seeing the wedding she'd forgotten. The wedding she'd died for. He walked over to her and calmly kicked the bat away from her and back behind him. He reached out for her and she flinched away, slamming her back into the wall and her hp into the little table next to her.

"Whoa. I gotsta touch you to show you."

Still with her back to the wall she looked terrified. Totally and utterly freaked. It stabbed him, stabbed him that she reacted that strongly. It made anger burn in his throat that someone would hurt her to the extent that she was terrified of him.

In a small voice that was supposed to have been strong she asked, "How do I know you won't hurt me?"

The vulnerability in her eyes burned him and he answered without hesitation, "I'z couldn't hurts you, youse know that."

Some of the naked fear left her eyes and she slowly nodded.

"Epic.' And he gently reached out and pushed some wayward hair way form her face.

At his touch they were gone.

……………….

He carried her into the cave, their d'rahi, the one it had all begun in months earlier on their quest for the Granolith. But he didn't have time for fond memories so he simply ignored it. He set her down gently by the pool of fresh water.

"Rath?" her voice was weak, barely a whisper, and it was so filled with pain that it took his breath away.

"I'm here, Q. I've got to heal you now, baby."

She made a noise, one laced with pain then seemed to drift off. She'd been like this ever since he'd rescued her form the dungeon. She was a mess and he'd gone through hell and back to save her. He wasn't about to let her slip away now.

He looked down at her to closely examine the injuries he would have to heal. It was hard to see with all of ht blood that covered them both. He felt anger threaten to overcome him at what was done to her. What was done to her because of him, because of her loyalty to him. He relentlessly pushed the anger aside, there would be time for anger and revenge later.

He reached over into the water and splashed it on his face to refresh himself. He then repeated the process on her. She stirred slightly.

"Open your eyes, Q. You've got to open your eyes for me."

Her eyes fluttered slowly open, filled with pain and confusion. They focused on him.

"Where does it hurt the worst?" 'so I can heal it first' he silently added.

She sputtered, blood coming out of her mouth, "stomach."

He brushed the blood from her lips, "I'll make it better, I promise."

Then he ripped what little cloth was left away. He moved to do the same to the rest of her clothes, so he could see all of her wounds. Her small hand touched his, stilling his movements. "No, Rath. You can't see.."

He could have screamed in frustration over her modesty. How was he supposed to fix her if he couldn't' see what he was fixing? But he didn't want to upset her or lose any more precious time, she was fading fast. Her eyes drifted closed again.

"OK, Q. Eyes open, baby, look at me."

She focused her eyes on his and he started opening himself to his power, but he didn't stop there. He needed more than his own power and opened himself fully to Ozma, taking the power of his longtime companion. He felt the power fill him and opened himself even further to power he shouldn't have been able to access, power that belonged to no mortals.

He locked his eyes with hers, pressing his hands firmly against her abdomen over the deepest blade wound. He focused on healing her, letting another part of his mind handle the visions that came with healing. He was ready to take the pain, whenever you healed someone you had to experience all of the pain that went with it.

He felt the wound begin to knit together practically of its own accord so while the power healed one part he looked for other wounds. He resolutely pushed through the feelings of the knife gashing him, past the laughter of pure evil that accompanied it. There were so many, he took them one by one until all 13 knife wounds were healed and the 35 bruises were gone. He ran his power through her, giving her energy and didn't stop to wonder at the oddness in her blood. There was still power left so he used it to banish all foreign agents from the both of them, removing the dirt grime and blood they were both covered it.

He sat back and let the power go. He was shaking, exhausted from his exertions. He wanted to throw up from what he'd seen and felt, from her experiences. But he couldn't his warrior's body was too strong to let him lose his food.

Before letting him focus on himself he looked over at her. She was sitting up slowly, whole and smooth skinned. She was perfect again, clean and physically unmarred from her ordeal. Not ordeal her torture, because that's what it truly was. It was torture, torture done to hurt him and torture done for Nkyot's pleasure. It slayed Rath that she'd had to go through it, he was trained to withstand torment but she wasn't. She shouldn't have ever been hurt in her life. Some people were too pure to be hurt, to know the barriers of pain.

He let his harsh thoughts drift away as she crawled shaking into his lap curling up against him with her face pressed into his shoulder. She was like a small child seeking comfort from the only true ally she'd ever known, he was her protector, her friend, her love. She was still just a child, not quite a woman yet but neither fully a little girl anymore. He held her close, letting relief and exhaustion wash over him. He couldn't lose her, couldn't go on without her. He needed to always be with her, always tied to her. If he was tied to her he could prevent this from ever happening again.

He breathed in the smell of her hair, tenuously holding onto his control. With a shaky voice he whispered, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, I promised to protect you. I shouldn't have left.."

The guilt was too much, he couldn't take it. She lifted her head from his chest looking up into his anguished eyes. "No, Rath. Don't blame yourself . It was my fault."

He gave a dark bitter laugh. His selfless beautiful girl was blaming herself for her pain, to spare him any pain. "Not your fault, Q. Never your fault."

Something unreadable crossed her lovely face. "I knew it was coming. You couldn't have saved me, if you'd been there you would have been hurt or killed."

He shut his eyes not wanting to believe her, but knowing she couldn't lie. "How?"

She shifted in his arms, "Since I woke up I see things sometimes. Things that have happened or will happen or aren't real."

He sighed, the possession had changed her. Stolen some of her innocence. "You should have told me."

She touched her face in her innocent way, "You would have been hurt. I couldn't bear if you were hurt."

His laugh was just nigh of hysterical, "So you got yourself hurt instead. Powers That Be, Qaelia! Don't you realize I'd rather die than see you hurt? I couldn't go on without you, I'd die.."

She shook her head sadly, "You'll go on Rath, you'll go on after I'm gone. I'll never really leave you, remember that, I'll always be watching and waiting for you."

He felt his stomach tense up, ready to throw up all over again at her words. Fear had him in her clutches, he'd never been so afraid before. Not during the training or the battles and imprisonment's that followed.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Nothing, just remember." Then she kissed him to distract him from further questioning. It was odd because she was never that forward, always letting him initiate the kisses. It was a long kiss, he'd needed to feel her and know that she was all right. Finally it broke and he realized it was time.

He reached down and pulled something out of his pocket, keeping it carefully concealed in his hand. Then he leaned forward touching their foreheads together and placed her hand over his heart.

The traditional position for a nontraditional couple.

The thought made him smile. He saw the exact moment that she understood what was happening, his smile grew.

"Rath, what are you doing?" her voice trembled with anxiety and excitement.

"You already know what I'm asking. Q, I've made a lot of mistakes in my life, most of my life especially lately. But you are the one thing that was never a mistake, the one thing I'll never forget. With you I can be who I might have been without the training, you've given me the gift of myself. And you never lie to me, I can always tell how you feel because you're completely open. I know I'm not like that, I'm close off and I know it hurts you. I don't think you know how I really feel about you and I want you to. I want you to always know, to never doubt that you're the light in my world of shadows. Granix with me, be my wife."

She hiccuped her eyes completely black from emotions but filled with hesitancy. He felt no fear at her eyes, she would cave. "Rath.."

"I know were not supposed to, I know it's against everything but I don't care. I want us to be one."

Her hiccups turned into a joyous laugh, "OK! OK, even though you demanded it and didn't ask. I'll do it."

He was filled with joy, it was overflowing everywhere. After he'd kissed her he opened the little box he had. She gasped so he took out the ring he'd made and slipped it on her middle finger. She kept staring at it, at the sheen of the unbreakable metal but mostly at the stone he'd forged. The immersed red center surrounded by a clear stone sparkling with millions of contained rainbows. "Rath what kind of stone is it, it's not the traditional heartstone."

He shrugged feeling self-conscious. "I wanted to give you more than just a piece of my heart. You mean more to me than that so I went to Arhal and he helped me forge a soulstone."

She raised her to his, disbelief shining out. "You made a piece of your soul into a stone for me? I thought that was really hard to do and rare.."

He shrugged again, it had been hard but it had been worth it. He couldn't hold his question in any longer. "So, do you want to get married now?"

He knew he sounded hopeful but he didn't care. He wanted to do it now, he had it all set up and planned out, well actually Arhal had it all set up and planned out. But that was immaterial.

She looked excited but scared, "Don't we need an official?"

"Will I do, pet?" Arhal stood there with his hands full.

She spun around at the sound of his voice, joyous. "Arhal! Yes, of course. What are you doing here?"

He simply looked at Rath so she pun back around, "You had it planned!"

"How are you, pet? Stand up and let me see you love. Did he patch you up all right?"

She obligingly stood up, "Rath made me all better."

Arhal nodded at her, making a clucking noise. "good, but you can't get married wearing those rags. Go put this on and make yourself as lovely as you want."

She eagerly took the proffered bundle then hesitated, she didn't want to be alone. She'd been alone far too long in those dungeons. Rath winced, feeling pain at her reaction, would the pain ever stop?

"I'll be right here."

She nodded, reassured by his answer and flounced off to a hidden alcove.

Arhal sat down in her vacated spot, though not as close. "Be gentle with her tonight."

Rath felt outrage flaring up, "Why wouldn't I be? She'll be my wife."

Arhal sighed, looking weary. "How far have the two of you gone physically?"

The outrage was pushing at his control. He managed a curt controlled answer, "We've kissed. Though I don't see how it pertains to you."

The Chosen looked at him, "I wish you'd gone further. It wouldn't be such a shock for her tonight."

"What are you talking about?"

Arhal gave a bitter laugh. "Your wife to be has led a very sheltered life. She has no idea what goes on between a man and a woman who are married, and certainly no clue of her wedding night. She came to me in total confusion after you'd kissed her the first time. She though she'd done the forbidden."

Rath couldn't believe that, he scratched his eyebrow in disbelief. "You've got to be kidding me. How can that be? Even kids know what happens."

Arhal gave him a twisted smile, as he got up and walked towards a rough pedestal next to the lake. Rath followed straightening his uniform compulsively.

"The First Order of the Granolith is very controlling. They don't let the Chosen have any knowledge of physical activity between men and women, they think it might lead them astray. So she has no clue of what will happen tonight. I'm not even sure if she knows about the differences between men and women."

Rath sighed, "Then how do you know so much about it?"

Arhal gave him a full cocky grin, "I'm the oracle."

Then he sobered up again reaching out to fix Rath's collar. "So be gentle and understanding with her. You marrying a true innocent and as such I got her a white dress."

Rath was confused, "White? Wedding dresses are always red, the color of blood, water and the heart."

Arhal shrugged, "A few reasons. White is purity and innocence. She hasn't had her akino where the white dress is traditional or slept with anyone. Besides, I couldn't exactly carry around a wedding dress. It'd be suspicious."

Rath just nodded, the dress already forgotten. His thoughts were stuck on what would happen later.

And then he saw her.

She had slipped out of the hidden niche. She was simply standing there and it took his breath away. Her dress was simple a sheath of white and her hair was flowing over her shoulders. It was partially up somehow in a cascading waterfall, but what really burned it into his mind were the narka blooms floating in her hair. Blossoms from their plant.

She floated towards them, the dress swirling around her. She stopped next to him and reached out towards him for his hands.

"You're beautiful."

She merely smiled at him and squeezed his hands.

"Shall we begin?" Arhal asked.

They both gave an affirmative nod. And he smiled in response then lifted his arms up, "We are here to join two individuals in the blessed sacrament of matrimony. With the blessing of the Chosen of the Gods, as representation of the First Order of the Granolith I willingly join your lives, your hearts for the rest of your lives."

He paused to smile at them, "XonRath son of Tuluk, General of the Armed Forces of Antar. Do you take Qaelia, Blessed by the Gods to be your wife in sickness and in health, in tears and in you until time ends?"

"Always." His emotions were everywhere.

"Qaelia, Chosen of the Gods do you take XonRath to be your husband through suffering and bliss, through new experiences and old ones?"

She smiled at him, all of her joy showing through and mirroring his own, "I do."

"I now pronounce you man and wife."

She squealed and threw herself into his arms. He hugged her and squeezed her tight. Finding her lips with his own he sealed the marriage.

Arhal smiled at them, "Now for the keeper. The Granix ceremony."

She pulled away giving his hands one last squeeze still smiling. Her smile hadn't left her face since he proposed and Rath guessed that his own smile matched hers. He was deliriously happy, he couldn't remember a time when he'd felt like this. The closest he'd come to this level of joy had been finding out his identity after training but even then he'd been mostly surprised.

Arhal smiled at their joined hands, "Powers That Be, Gods that created our world, I humbly request your presence to witness and assist in the joining of these two souls. They wish to Granix, to return their tow halves of soul unto its original state of oneness."

Rath quirked at the words, it wasn't just tradition Arhal was implying that he and Q were two halves of the same soul. That thought drifted away as Rath felt the room filled with another omnipresent presence. The d'rahi felt full, full of many others, powerful others come to watch his joining. The room seemed brighter, filled with a gentle light that radiated from within everything. Rath looked around, the Gods had no real physical presence except the ever-growing light and occasional glint or flashes of eyes in his peripheral vision. He turned to look but nobody was there so Rath tired to settle down, ignoring the immortal power pushing on his skin seeming to make it tingle.

He glanced over at Q to see how she was handling the sudden manifestation of the Gods. She was still smiling goofily, perfectly at ease with their guests. It made sense, she was one of their Chose, her life devoted to Them and had had Them possess her. Of course she would be familiar with them.

A touch of nervousness found him, she was after all one of their Chosen ones. What if They didn't want to part with her? What if The were planning on denying their Granix and would strike him dead for trying/ Rath pushed those thoughts aside, there was no use worrying. If they were going to kill him, they would, he'd already come this far and wasn't about to turn back.

She squeezed his hand and Rath looked back to her, he got the impression that she had been calling his attention back. Arhal smiled at him, confirming that they'd been waiting for him.

"Gods, we thank you for your presence tonight. We are here to ask that you grant your blessings for this blending of Qaelia, Siren of Antar, Blessed one of the Chosen, Child of Many Lives, Once knows as Bytol, Tamma, Jovvi and Ayla amongst others."

He paused to take a breath and Rath was stunned looking over at Q, she'd lived many times before as some of the most influential and one of the Very First Chosen sent to Antar so long ago. She seemed just as shocked, but there was no time to talk of it because he was talking again.

"and XonRath, Son of Tuluk, Commander of the Armed Forces of Antar, Once Known as Gala, Lorand, Rion, Vallant and forever known, though banished, as Vhizago de HeZil, Forger of Antar."

Rath and never heard himself described as such, had never know all the titled he'd held. He'd known about his past lives, especially Vallant and Rion, they were historically famous, fairly recent and he had vague memories of their reigns over the Armed Forces. But he'd never heard the last name, or at least not in a long long time, it stirred something in him. A power that roiled and spat and he suddenly understood how he'd been able to channel the Granolith's power and take in the extra power needed to heal Z. He'd been something more than mortal once, someone who wasn't truly mortal now. He would die but he would always come back again. He roughly shook his thoughts away from these facts as he looked at Arhal.

Arhal's eyes were a glowing milky white, the same color Q's had gone when she was possessed. Rath repressed a shiver that memory and the pain it had caused him. Arhal smiled easily at him, still in full control of his body, still aware, cohabiting rather than full possession. It was so different form Q's painful jerky movements and vacant gaze that he was put at ease.

"Daughter we greet you and bless your union. Our gift to you is life."

She nodded her eyes dark with things Rath couldn't' grasp or understand. "Part of my loyalty will always be to you."

Arhal gave a wry smile, Their amusement evident. "We knew we would lose you as we eventually lose all of our children. Your loyalty is his, and to him it will stay."

Rath watched as wife merely gave a small smile and bowed her head. There was so much he still didn't know or understand about his wife, but the Granix would help and they had the rest of their lives to understand each other.

They turned their attention to him, "Brother we grant you this union and the care of your purest. You have been separated far too long, it is time for old debts to be forgotten."

Those shining eyes infinitely saddened, "But everything, even this, has a price. Are you willing to pay?"

Rath looked to his beautiful new wife to all the times they would have. He would pay any price to be with her. "I am/"

The Gods saddened and rejoiced at the same time, all in a flicker of the eyes. "So mote it be."

Then everything changed and Rath was truly alone for the last time. The atmosphere grew in tension as the actual Granix began. Rath felt himself being opened; every little bit of him floating free. The few happy memories he had as well as his darkest deepest secrets swirling around him in a cloud of silver. His soul physically swirling around him a metallic sheen, his power and age of his soul giving it the luster. He never knew he had had that much power tied to him but he let the thought drift away as he looked to Q.

She was lost in a cloud of buttercup yellow. The purity of her soul calling to his tainted one like a beacon. He felt himself respond and felt her thoughts, her memories begin to twine with his, her yellow twirling around his silver.

He felt how she felt about him, saw how she saw him. And in her eyes he was magnificent and beautiful. She his flaws as assets, as something that made him stronger. It warmed him as he watched, and felt, their souls finally merge. The separate buttercup yellow and burnished silver combing to form one gold soul around them both.

Rath stared at it for a long second, reveling its beauty and rightness. An eternity of feeling its grand oneness, him and her as one. No barriers, then it diminished slightly as their souls filtered back down into them. It was back in tow halves now, though always connected. He had some of her memories, some of her soul, her purity and light filling the holes where his darkness had been. Tempering him, gentling him, and in the same way she now had some of his darkness to make her light shine brighter.

He could feel her now, both her physical presence in relation to him and her emotional climate. At first he wondered why he couldn't hear her thoughts but slowly an answer drifted to him. Thoughts were like words, they could be misinterpreted and wound, but feelings were pure. Though they were fully joined they would still have some privacy, the privacy of their thoughts and choices of what to actually say aloud.

He felt her joy, her overwhelming pure joy and it matched his own, the two combining and bouncing back and forth making their joy even greater, a higher state of bliss.

After they calmed done some Rath managed to tear his attention away from her for a moment. The room was empty again except for their 3 mortal presences. Arhal smiled weakly at him, fully himself again thought thoroughly exhausted from his hosting duties Rath reached out drawing the smaller man into an embrace full of his, no not just his anymore never his again, their, thanks. The Chosen leaned gratefully into him, his exhaustion evident so Rath did the only thing he could think of. He pulled power in and pushed it into Arhal, giving him strength and banishing all signs of exhaustion.

Arhal straightened up with a warm smile, "Thank you. Now how are you both doing?"

Rath merely smiled while Q spun in a circle, "Amazing. I'm married! And I have a Grantel and he's amazing!"

She spun right into him with a dazed, happy expression on her face. Rath steadied her automatically smiling down at her beautiful face.

Arhal smiled at them, "Good, now the Granix won't cement until…"

He trailed off with a pointed look at Rath. Q caught the look and glanced back and forth between them not understanding. Before she could ask Arhal spoke again, "Now I've got to be on my way."

She cut him off and Rath could feel her concern and a hint of panic. "No, you mustn't! It's late and you're tied and you must stay.."

Rath, even though he knew she didn't know what would happen, was still surprised that she wanted other company on her wedding night. Arhal shot him another pointed look then smile gently at Q, "I've still got to go. I need to be back by morning, Walk me to the opening."

He reached over and grasped Rath's forearm in a sing of friendship then turned away, but not before Rath caught the look of sadness and regret in his eyes. Then Arhal was walking to the opening with Rath's wife.

He watched as they talked in hushed tones then embraced and he watched as his wife clung to the oracle as if this was the last time she'd see him. He felt her uncertainty and sad acceptance bubbling up through their bond.

Then Arhal was gone and she turned back to him, happiness floating all around her.

"What did he say?" Rath asked as she floated over to him and into his waiting arms.

She smiled, slightly confused. "He said our wedding present is in the next chamber of the d'rahi."

Rath smiled, having an inkling of what it might be. Still holding his bride he propelled them forward, "Lets go see then shall we?"

She bounced along eagerly, "Yeah! I love presents! I don't usually get presents but now we've got one!"

Her babbling stilled as they got o the next chamber. She stared at it in confusion then turned to Rath.

He looked at the big opulent bed and smiled, secretly relieved. He hadn't been looking forward to spending his wedding night on a cave floor.

"Rath? Why did he give us a bed?"

He didn't answer, she would find out soon enough. There was no use in scaring or confusing her beforehand. He just took her hand and led her over to the bed, sitting them both down on the edge. He could feel her impatience and reveled in the fact that he could.

"Rath?" She sounded more impatient and demanding this time.

He smiled at her, leaned over and kissed her. As the kiss went on he removed the flowers from her hair one by one, letting it lose down her back. After all the flowers were gone he broke the kiss and looked down into her heady eyes. He could feel her unfamiliar desire starting to grow and leaned forward to kiss her again. This time he started to undo the ties that held he dress.

She abruptly pulled away, stilling his hands. Confusion and ingrained reactions filling her. "Rath! You can't do that, its forbidden/"

He smiled, thankful that Arhal had warned him, "Q, bay, I'm your husband now. I get to do this, it's what a man and his wife do together."

She just looked at him, he sighed taking another tact. "How do you feel?"

"A little odd, kin of tense. You feel it too, just a lot more strongly."

He smiled at her, "Yes, we both feel it. So trust me."

She did trust him completely and she did let him show her gently what a man and his wife did together.

………………………..

Maria was back in the present on her bed, groggily she looked to her bedside clock and was shocked to see that more than 3 hours had passed. It sharpened everything but didn't dull the left over feelings form the flash. She looked at the boy who looked like Michael but wasn't, Rath. He was staring at her, his fingers stroking her hand gently in total contrast to his seemingly harsh personality. She looked to his eyes to see what he was feeling, but he was closed off no emotion showing in his too dark eyes.

"Why am I on the bed when we were over there…"

He shrugged scratching his eyebrow the same way Michael did, "Your legs gave out when the proposal happened. So I'z puts you on the bed."

She nodded, sitting up. She stared at him trying to find the differences and similarities between his face and Michael's. "How did you do it, don't you get all groggy?"

He shook his head, "Nada. Not anymore, when the flashes first came I did. But nows I gots all the memories its all nasty."

She blinked at nasty, unsure of what to make of it. But Q was stirring, the memory of her wedding and wedding night waking her.

Maria looked at the bull ring hanging out of Rath's nose then to his eyes. She sighed, "I stayed up the whole night, you know, so that I could watch you sleep. I was determined not to miss a minute of our marriage."

His eyes darkened more without the fight Michael always put up. Rath wasn't really two entities like Michael and Rath were, he was a mix, a fully accepted mix of past and present. "You should have told me."

She, Q, shrugged, Maria was slowly getting pushed to the side. "I didn't want to ruin it for you."

He didn't say anything, just stared at her for a long moment. The intense way he looked at her reminded her of Michael, but this wasn't Michael. He leaned over and kissed her. Maria felt Q responding eagerly, running their body. Her desire to spend time with her husband running the show.

At first it was like kissing Michael, and Maria let herself sink into the feeling forgetting that it wasn't Michael. She was snapped back to reality when she felt his tongue ring.

The illusion was broken and Maria started to struggle against Q's control as the kisses grew more intense. Rath began kissing his way down her neck, across her shoulders and down to right above the cut of her spaghetti strap. She struggled harder against the control. She didn't want this boy who wasn't Michael marking her, leaving a hickey, especially where Michael hadn't left hickeys. It was blasphemy, he wasn't Michael and she couldn't fool herself into thinking he was for Q's sake.

She didn't want this, didn't want her first time to really be Q's play time. OR for it to be anyone but Michael. Finally her growing hysteria got through to Q and she listened.

"Rath, stop."

He pulled away still hovering over her, half-lying on top of her his eyes clouded with desire and confusion. "What's wrong?"

"Maria doesn't want this. She's never…."

He leaned closer kissing her ear softly, whispering, "I'z be gentle."

Then Maria had her body back again, Q relinquishing control. "No. I don't' want this and your not…"

She trailed off, she hadn't meant to say the last part.

He leaned over and kissed her again, one last passionate kiss, then backed off the bed looking jittery. He turned his back on her breathing hard and grabbed a picture of Maria and Liz out of the mirror.

"Rath?" she asked nervous at his reaction. He spun back around, shoving the picture in his pocket still jittery.

"I ain't gots lots of control like he did. I gots to go."

She stared at him as he climbed through her window. He bent his upper body back through, calmer now with the distance between them. " I ain't coming back. You.. you want him and at least one of us should gots a chance to be happy. I gots Lonnie waiting for me, she ain't you, but I aint's him either. And she can be enough for me. But if youse ever change your mind come find me."

She just nodded, still in a vague shock that this freaky Michael, clone whatever he was, was walking away from her so that she could be with Michael. That he could give up something he'd obviously wanted so much because he knew she didn't want him. He never would take being second choice, not to Zan back on Antar and not even now.

She stared at the open window in a daze until the sun rose in the morning.

…………………..


	20. Chapter 15

Author's note: I'd like to thank everyone for all the reviews and for being patient!

Teepot: Wow! Your so nice saying that this could actually fit in the show, seriously it totally made my week.

simba317: once again Wow, i really love long reviews! I've really tried to keep the characters beleivable bc its why we fell in love with them in the first place, not how we wish Michael is hte perfect guy, there's Max for that. I'm happy you like Rath and Q and that it's helping explain the stuff and I really struggled with writing the wedding scene. I could picture it so perfectly in my head, but putitng it into words is another thing entirely. Alas, my fav part is you saying its one of hte best MM stories you've read.

candylovin fehrian: will the scorpion king be able to restrain shaggy:) I wrote you a special scene in there about Michael and Kyle duping it out. As for Rath showing up, its something I felt would happen and no he's not working for anyone, jsut wanted to see Maria. Maria and Michael will have some more issues in this chappie, but it happens.

higherbeingfriendsfan: I'm happy it was worth the wait. I'm glad everyone is liking Kyle and Alex, they really do bring hte humor in. The show had alot of humor, alot of stuff I missed watching the episodes the first 3 or 4 times and I didn't want this to be total angst city.

Collision Part 15 "The Memory Remains"

_Fortune, fame, mirror vain, gone insane,  
but the memory remains.  
"The memory Remains'" -Metallica_

It was Monday afternoon and the group decided to meet at Kyle's to finalize all plans. So far everyone but Alex and Maria were there, but Alex wasn't coming for security reasons.

"Anyone know where Maria is?" Liz asked, looking specifically at Michael.

He shrugged in response, "No idea, she was pissy today."

Tess sighed, "I don't think she got much sleep. She all but passed out during the history test."

"All but passed out? Tess, she was snoring. I told you she has narcolepsy." Kyle added.

Liz looked at Kyle; "Maria does not have narcolepsy, Kyle."

"I beg to differ. She fell asleep while Michael was wailing on Vicky. Only someone with narcolepsy could fall asleep during that."

Isabel just stared at Kyle in disbelief. "Did he really just say that? Maria passed out; it's a totally different thing than falling asleep… What I really want to know is how stern Mr.Jennings took Maria sleeping through that test of death."

Max shrugged, "Actually he was pretty decent about it. He let her sleep then told her she had to make it up tomorrow morning."

Michael glanced up. "He let her slide? No fair."

Isabel looked at him. "Michael, there's a difference. You cut class while Maria fell asleep."

He scowled, "He gets mad at me when I sleep in class.."

Kyle grinned, "Well you don't still have bruises on your face from assault. Plus Maria looks a heck of a lot cuter than you when sleeping. But you'd know all about how she looks sleeping, wouldn't you?"

The door flew open and Maria came running through possibly saving Kyle's smart aleck self from a painful death. Her white button down shirt and skirt came twirling in right along with her making it all seem a lot hastier than it was.

"Sorry I'm late! I had to take something to my mom then I had to take something else somewhere else and then-"

Michael interrupted the babble, "Why are you dressed up like that?"

"I had an English presentation. Do you have to be so rude?"

She was short and snippy with him, walking by him without any acknowledgment. She couldn't believe he was acting like this after their huge blowout the day before.

She looked exhausted, big dark circles under her eyes and very distressed. Tess took pity on the girl and wanted to break up the growing tension between her and Michael. They didn't have the time or luxury for Maria and Michael to fight today. "Do you want some coffee, Maria?"

She shot Tess a grateful smile, "Sure. Thanks, Tess."

Kyle looked up, "Good call, it'll help keep the narcolepsy at bay."

Tess rolled her eyes, "Kyle come help me get drinks for everyone."

Isabel watched the two walk into the kitchen before turning back to the confused Maria. "Kyle is under the impression you have narcolepsy where you randomly fall asleep.."

Maria laughed, "Why are we friends with him again?"

"I heard that!" Kyle yelled from the kitchen.

He walked back in the room carrying two cups of coffee while Maria was trying to make a response. They collided and Kyle spilled the scalding hot coffee all over Maria's shirt.

She screamed as the hot liquid hit her and peeled her button down shirt off with Kyle's help. She was left in the spaghetti strap she'd worn underneath.

"Oh my God, Maria I'm so sorry, so sorry." He paused mid apology to stare at her.

"Whoa! Look at that hickey."

Kyle turned to look at Michael who was now sitting up, no longer looking the least bit bored. He shot Michael a thumbs up sign. "Way to go Guerin."

Michael was totally alert by now, knowing he hadn't given Maria any hickeys lately. He wouldn't risk leaving a mark on Amy DeLuca's daughter, not while Mrs.DeLuca was overprotective and checking her daughter for any little bruises. He looked at Maria and she was clutching her coffee soaked shirt in front of her chest and looking terribly guilty and frightened.

The look in her eyes told him that it indeed wasn't his hickey. She spun around putting her back to him, beginning to hyperventilate.

He stood up feeling rage beginning to course through him, Maria was his and she wasn't allowed to be getting marked by other boys.

"I didn't leave any hickeys on you.'

She didn't respond to his growled out statement, she just started to breathe faster and Michael felt fear mixing with his rage making him lose it. He needed answers and he needed them now or he would explode.

Everyone stood in shock as the scene unfolded before them. Kyle stood holding two dangling coffee cups with Tess frozen in the doorway. Max was half standing up with Liz grabbing his hand. Isabel just sat shocked staring at the look in Michael's eyes and thinking how it resembled the look he'd had before deciding to blast her to bits.

Kyle saw the look too and it stirred him to action; he started to step in front of Maria but was roughly pushed aside by Michael.

"Let me see." He said it tightly, rage radiating from every word and controlled body movement. She made no response other than to hyperventilate more.

He grabbed her shoulder, spinning her around to face him, much rougher than he'd intended to. He let his hand keep digging into her shoulder.

"Let me see." He all but screamed it in her face this time, looking into her eyes. She shook her head, clutching the shirt tighter.

"Let me see." It was practically his rage filled mantra as he roughly manhandled her hands and the shirt she clutched down away from her chest. Still holding her hands roughly at her waist he stared at the reddish-purple bruise right above the cut of her top.

His world fell away shattering into tons of tiny shards that cut him over and over again with every breath. When it was all gone he was left only with his anger and rage to keep him warm. She didn't love him, he wasn't enough. She was cheating on him. He wasn't enough for her, never enough for anyone.

He felt the anger taking over and he let it, clutching her hands tighter. His voice was tight and low, vehemence filling every dagger of a word as he stared at it. " I did not put that there."

He raised his eyes to her face. "Who?"

Hellfire burned in his gaze, alighting everything he saw ablaze in the flames of his anguish.

"Michael!" It was Max pulling him away from her, from his betrayer. He lashed out blindly shoving Max back.

"Out." It was a command but Max hesitated.

"Now." He turned to look at his King, his gaze so intense that Max immediately dropped his eyes. He'd seen the madness that burned there before, a long long time ago.

Everyone left but Max still hesitated looking at Maria. "GO. He'll be fine."

He nodded still looking warily at Michael. "I'll be right outside."

She nodded and he stepped out into the hallway with the others.

She stared back at Michael then moved to put her coffee soaked shirt back on.

It turned to ash in her hands.

"What the hell is your problem, Michael?"

He shook his head in disbelief, "What the hell is my problem, Maria? What is your problem and who the hell's bones have you been jumping? I mean what am I not enough for you? Is loyalty to hard for you - "

She savagely cut him off, "-Oh shut up Michael. That's rich coming from you, especially after Courtney."

"Who told you about that?" His voice was surprised matching his angry shocked expression.

"Hello! What are you talking about, yesterday.. outside the Crashdown…any of this ringing a bell?"

He'd walked away while she was talking leaning heavily on the back of the couch facing way from her. "No."

"Michael, you waited for me and told me you kissed Courtney then tired to make it the same Victor…as Victor.." she trailed off choking at the end.

He looked over his shoulder at her, his brown eyes unreadable, "No, I didn't."

She stared at his face, at his hair as if seeing someone else. As if comparing his face to another's

"Rath."

"What does my past life have to do with it?"

She shook her head impatiently, No, no. Not your past, your present. Well, your other present. He's like your clone, but all freaked out, he came to me last night. - "

The couch flipped over. Pushed by Michael, his anger with everything needing to get out. So he pushed the couch over rather than use his powers.

Max poked his head in the room at the crash. He stared at the upturned couch then at Michael was standing over it breathing heavily.

"Everything all right in here?"

"Yeah Max" Maria managed a weak smile for him.

After Max shut the door again Michael spoke, his intense voice breaking the tension filled silence.

"He's the one."

It was a statement, not a question.

Maria sighed, "It wasn't me Michael. It was Q, he come over and –"

"What were you thinking letting him in, Maria? Are you stupid? Do you not remember the last time you let a strange boy into your house?" he exploded.

"Shut up, Michael. Just shut up. Look he came through my window and I pulled the bat on him. But he was just like you, looks like you. Moves like you, he even does the eyebrow scratchy thing when he's nervous like you. It made me trust him, let him prove to me who he was."

"Maria! You're not allowed to be alone anymore. Bad things happen and I won't let it happen again. You get stabbed, attacked. Then, then you cheat on me." He was yelling again.

She was yelling right back. "you cheated on me first. But I didn't cheat on you if you'd actually listen."

He stared at her silently, not able to refute Courtney and wanting to desperately believe that she hadn't betrayed him. She took it as a willingness to listen.

"So as I was saying he came in and told me there were two sets of pods, one here and the other in New York. He found out about me and came here. I didn't believe him so he showed me, He showed me Rath and Q's wedding and wedding night."

She paused smiling slightly. 'It was beautiful, tragic but beautiful. Perfect and untraditional, I wish you could have seen it Michael. Well when I came to, Q took control. She was so full of leftover emotions from the wedding and she wanted to be with her husband. Spend some time with him. So they, we? Kissed –"

He cut her off pointing accusingly at the hickey, "That's a lot more than kissing Maria."

Redness blossomed in her cheeks, "Good job, Michael. Do you want a f.ucking cookie?"

She rubbed her temples, regretting how she'd snapped at him. "I didn't want it, OK? I pushed and pushed and finally Q stopped it. I didn't want it, didn't want him. He looked like you, moved like you, kissed like you. But he wasn't you, isn't you Michael. And I didn't want to be kissing anybody but you. Here I am just having thought we fought and you cheated on me and I'm upset that I'm not kissing you. God, are you happy now? All I want, ever wanted, was you and all you do is push me away. Good are you happy now knowing I'm all yours?"

She hadn't meant to let most of it slip but the intense, driving hopeful way he'd been looking at her had it tumbling out.

He stared at her, replaying the words in his head. She wasn't leaving him, she wanted him. "Yes."

She looked distracted all over again, "Yes, what?"

He shrugged walking over to her. "I'm dealing. I won't hold it against you if you do the same thing about Courtney."

She sighed, "I'll try. I 'm not happy about it, it still hurts and I don't want you alone with her."

He nodded, "I'll take Max. No what happened where is he now?"

She pretended not to notice how he'd growled out he. "He left, back to New York and Lonnie. He doesn't have a lot of control and told me he wouldn't be second choice. He told me to go back to you."

Michael nodded, not sure he could do the same thing. "Lonnie? That used to be short for Vilandra.. Do you think that they bought destiny and he's with his Isabel?"

Maria shrugged, "I don't really care."

And that was the best thing he'd heard all day.

……………..

Eventually the couch was fixed back to its normal upright position and the rest of the group filtered back in and got settled.

It was obvious that even after all the yelling and making up there was still a lot of tension between Maria and Michael. They weren't sitting next to each other and had uptight body language. They still had a lot to work though and to a lot of time to do it if they wanted the next day to run smoothly.

Max looked back and forth between them, "Everything ok?"

Maria just nodded, looking miserable, while Michael was unreadable. He gave a sarcastic verbal confirmation, "Peachy."

Max decided to ignore Michael, he'd known his moody friend long enough to know when not to push. When Michael was unreadable and sarcastic after a fight it meant definitely steering clear of everything personal for at least 3 hours, or 3 days.

Liz tried to fix the gaping hole in the room desperately. "So what do we want Maria to try and find out from creepy alien stalker guy?"

"If arsenic works on aliens?" Kyle cracked.

Michael turned his stony gaze onto Kyle and Kyle abruptly dropped his goofy grin. He didn't have the time or patience to mess around with Kyle's stupid jokes.

"Where his actual body is. Earth or Antar. And if it's on Antar to try and get him here."

Maria nodded while Liz wrote it down.

"If he's working for anyone, like Nicholas." Tess piped up.

"Good." Liz said while writing down the suggestion.

"What he wants with Maria and if he's trying to kill Michael." Isabel contributed.

"Whether he gave the tip off to him," Michael said looking at Maria. She understood, as did everyone who heard the fight through the door.

"What his powers are." Max added.

Liz put her pen down, "I think that's enough. We can't have it seem like an interrogation or he'll get suspicious and might try and hurt Maria."

"I'm pretty sure he'll be too busy drooling over the fact he's sitting at the same table with Maria to notice." Kyle said.

Michael got up and stalked out of the room and they heard the front door slam. Maria stared to stand up and go after him but Max stopped her, "Let him go."

She settled down unhappily with a long look at the door.

"So Max and Tess will be sitting in the Crashdown and I'll wait the table, Alex will be possessed. Isabel will try and get in his mind if Maria can't get answers. And Kyle, you're in charge of keeping Michael under control. Good luck. Now Maria you'll obviously be talking to him and trying to get answers to our questions. Now how are you and Michael going to be connected?"

Maria shifted uncomfortable in her seat. "Rath and Q have a bond, it keeps them connected. We're supposed, and I supposed, to activate it, keep them awake enough to open the connection."

"Have you done it before?"

She looked away, "Nom we were going to try it tonight but now…"

Tess patted her shoulder but the gesture brought no comfort.

Liz gave her a sympathetic look, "Well try later."

Maria nodded; she had no other choice.

…………

Michael slammed the door to his apartment still mad, still utterly upset at how the afternoon had turned out. He was angry at everything and with everyone. He was angry with himself over Courtney and angry with Maria for everything else. Angry that she found out from someone other than him, angry that she kissed someone else. Angry that someone else shared THEIR wedding with her instead of him. He was angry at how everything was going, that he had to let Maria go into a situation where he couldn't protect her, couldn't keep her from getting hurt physically emotionally or getting scared. If he hated anything he hated being helpless, he'd been that way for too many years. He especially hated being helpless where Maria was involved because she meant so much to him, he couldn't let her fall into the same roll he'd played for years.

Michael felt his body go tense, someone was in his apartment. He looked around with senses that had once been honed for this a long time ago. There was nobody in his front room or kitchen, his cursory visual search told him that.

He stepped forward, grabbing the bat by the couch. It never hurt to have physical protection plus his powers.

A figure appeared in the doorway, casually leaning against the doorframe with papers in their hands.

He glanced up, "Youse got to get better locks, bro."

Michael started at the voice, it sounded so familiar despite the thick accent. Regardless he raised his hand, gathering power ready for attack. "I have locks."

The other shrugged, stepping forward and with a flick of the wrist the lights came on. "Not anymore you don't."

Michael growled, then started as the lights came on. He was staring at a mirrored image of himself. A freaked out, leather wearing, tattooed pierced version. Michael just stared at the bull hoop hanging out of his nose and all he could think of was why this person had made himself so ugly.

"Youse done starin', Roswell?" The thick New York accent asked.

Michael shook it off, he flexed his palm. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Rath plopped down on the couch, seemingly unconcerned about the threat he was facing. "Put your hand down. I can block anything youse shoot. Besides wese can't hurt each other, it's hardwired. You dig?"

Michael stared at him, feeling the waves of truth coming off of him. He watched as Rath rifled through the papers then held one p. "Nice, G. Looks just like her."

Michael immediately pushed the bat back up. Rath was holding up a picture of Maria' he'd drawn. This clone was talking about Maria, threatening her, and talking about seeing her. His hackles were raised, nobody talked about Maria.

"What is it with youse people and bats? Iz keep gettings bats pulled on me, first M then you."

It clicked, this was Rath. This was who Maria had kissed, had kissed her, had marked her with a hickey.

He stepped forward and swung the bat, anger overtaking everything. Rath ducked, throwing his arm out to trap the bat against the couch where Michael had missed. It worked, but he wasn't expecting Michael to drop the bat and punch him in the face in one swift motion. Rath's head snapped to the side with a crack and ever so slowly he turned it back. He looked at his dupe for a long moment with murder in his eyes then pounced with years of street practice behind him.

They hit the floor rolling, punches flying and knees getting thrown into stomachs. Michael flipped them so he was on top punching downward until he found himself launched backwards into the couch. The couch flipped over and he heard a mirroring crash from across the room where Rath had hit the wall.

Michael stood warily looking at his prey. Rath stood too, "Damn, that backfires, weze really cant use our powers on each other."

"You kissed Maria you f.ucking..-"

"At least I'm not fracking cheating on her with –"

"No you're not with her. I AM."

Rath started laughing, "yeah, youse doing a fan-fucking-tastic job. She's been stabbed, attacked and worst of all accosted by Nkyot. Don't youse gots any brains, he killed her last time."

Michael didn't need to be reminded of his shortcomings or how he'd failed her. Especially not by some Michael dupe who obviously wanted to take her away from him. It was all so surreal.

"And you could do better?" Michael asked, a challenge in his voice.

"Iz wouldn't let no one touch my wife."

This guy had a complex and it suddenly made Michael very tired. He flipped the couch right side up while talking wearily, "She isn't your wife."

He was still all defensive, "she once was."

"Join the club. Now why are you here?" Michael sat down on the couch, rubbing his face.

"Well, Iz came to see her, Iz heard she was reborn. Then Iz showed her the wedding and we'ze started to get all cozy. Then she gave me the shaft-"

"Wait, Maria gave you the shaft?"

He scowled, "Rub it in why don't you? She gave me the shaft for you, youse got to knows that. Then I left and I figured someone had to tell you to stop being a moron and keep her safe. Or else, you dig?"

Michael bristled at that, he didn't want, or need, anybody telling him to take care of Maria or else. He was already taking care of Maria even if she was making it difficult for him.

He started to retort angrily but paused looking into his dupe's eyes. Rath was totally serious, completely committed to eliminating Michael to keep her safe. He was also completely fascinated, infatuated by her, in the early stages of falling in love. Michael recognized the signs, he'd been there not to long ago staring on a road trip. He recognized the signs and instead of getting angrier he sympathized. Rath was willing to walk away, walk away from her, from the memories of another life, from the life he could have had with Maria. The life Michael wasn't willing to walk away from, the life Michael would kill to keep.

He looked at his dupe, there wasn't much to say.

"I dig."

Rath nodded and started to head for the door, still with his hands full. Michael popped up walking over and trying to grab what Rath held, "What are you taking?"

"Nothin."

Michael just looked at him and reached out again and this time Rath let him take it. Michael looked at him in anger, "Empty out your pockets."

"C'mon man."

"Do it." Oddly enough Rath obliged, emptying out his pockets on the counter. Stuff just kept coming out from every conceivable place.

Michael looked at the pile of junk and snorted, this guy was like a pack rat. He added what was in his hands to the stuff and started digging through it.

First was the drawing he'd done of Maria, the one Rath had been holding earlier. Michael really didn't want him to have it, but one look at his dupe's face made him reconsider. He shrugged, handing the drawing back to Rath. Michael had the real thing, he could give his dupe a picture.

The next thing was crumpled paper, Michael opened it up. It was the assignment he and Maria had been partners for on 285 South, the get to know each other one. He'd done the assignment, Maria didn't know, but he never turned it in. Just wrote down all her answers and kept it. He wasn't giving this up.

He looked up at Rath, "What did you do, go through my stuff?"

"It was in the nightstand." Rath said defensively.

"I know where it was. It's mine."

"Well, I wants it. You've seen, youse getting her.." He abruptly cut himself off as if he wanted to say more but thought better of it.

"No." Michael was adamant.

Rath didn't say anything else just turned back to the counter with one last speculative look.

Michael followed suit, setting it down beside him. He started rifling through the stuff rolling his eyes at the condoms and hair combs. He grabbed the wallet and opened it, he flipped thorough it idly. He was surprised to find pictures, Rath didn't' seem the type.

There was a picture of a punked out shorthaired Isabel with Rath. Michael quirked his eyes up at Rath.

"Lonnie, she's my chick."

Michael nodded, curious. "You guys followed destiny?"

He scratched his eyebrow, "We ain'ts gots much choice, we don't got all these humans."

Michael shrugged flipping to the picture of a punked out Max and Rath and smirked, they looked tight, like brothers.

The next picture was Maria, one of her and part Liz's head had been removed. Michael recognized it from Maria's room. Before he could say anything Rath cut him off.

"She lets me have it."

Michael wasn't sure if he believed him or not, but it wasn't worth fighting over. Instead he tried a different tack. "Better not let your Isabel see it. They're a jealous bunch."

Rath grinned, 'Tell me about it. Lonnie's a nazi."

Michael nodded, some people never change. He handed the wallet back. All that was left that he could see of Maria's was an earring and a hair tie.

He looked at Rath in disbelief he couldn't believe this guy was serious.

Michael held up the earring and Rath kept a perfectly straight face, daring Michael to say anything about it.

"It's mine."

Michael looked at all the piercing on his dupe and might have believed him if he hadn't recognized the earring as one of Maria's favorites.. Michael pocketed the earring, he'd give it back to Maria later.

"C'mon man.'

Michael just looked at him and held up the hair tie, "Congratulations, you get a hair tie."

Rath snatched it away with a scowl putting it on his wrist and daring Michael to say something about his being pathetic. Michael didn't and Rath grabbed the rest of his stuff. Michael was still surprised that Rath had let him search his pockets.

Rath reached out again for the next handful and Michael noticed his razor.

"Not my razor."

"Youse sure are uptight."

Michael shrugged, "Nah, I'm just poor and you're stealing."

Rath shrugged and walked to the door. He turned back, "Look after her, Make her happy and keep her away from Nicholas, he's nasty stuff."

Michael nodded, "I will."

And with an obscene hand signal Rath was gone.

Michael turned back to his counter only to see that his assignment on Maria that he'd denied Rath was gone. As well as his razor and several pieces of silverware that were on his counter.

He scowled, "Thief."

……………

At 9:30 there was a knock on Michael's door, grabbing the bat he yelled, "Come in."

Maria walked in, followed by Max. Michael really wasn't in the mood for dealing with either of them.

"What do you want?"

He couldn't read the expression on Maria's face and wasn't sure if he wanted to, but Max was another story. He was very clearly annoyed.

"You and Maria need to try blending, forming the connection. So if it doesn't work we have time to figure out a back up plan."

"I don't feel like it right now."

This time he could read her expression.

Hurt.

Good, he'd meant to hurt her. Keep her at a distance. It was better this way, easier to keep himself grounded. But at the same time if it was better why did it make him feel so bad?

She turned away, back to the door. "If you don't want to help anymore that's fine. I'll see you around."

He almost winced, but his pride wouldn't allow it. He wanted to help, had to. He knew, they both knew, that he wouldn't let her go near Fonbar alone. Not even with the rest of the Scooby Gang to protect her.

"Goodbye, Max." was all he said. She got the message, knowing he wouldn't actually admit to changing his mind.

Max nodded, "Call me if you need a ride home, Maria."

She smiled her thanks, 'I will, Bye girlfriend."

Max left the two of them in a stalemate. Staring at each other from across the room, though it felt more like they were on opposite sides of a huge chasm moving away from each other. Eventually she wielded to him with a sad smile and sat on the couch. He followed suit, cautiously sitting next to her.

"Did you move your couch?" she asked, noticing the slightly different condition.

He shrugged, not wanting to admit he'd been launched into it, changing its position. "Maybe."

She turned to look at him, "Why are you always so elusive?"

He didn't hear anger or hostility behind the question, only a tired curiously and sad acceptance. He scratched his eyebrow and answered honestly, "Keeps people at bay."

She merely nodded, still melancholy. "You're good at doing that."

He sighed, it wasn't he answer he'd been looking for. He really didn't want her at bay, or he did. He wasn't really sure. All he knew was he didn't want to hear the masked pain and sadness in her voice caused by his aloofness.

Tentatively he leaned back putting his arm around her shoulders. He hated how their relationship had gone from being so solid to a fear of rejection in a matter of hours.

She didn't shrug him off, but she didn't fully lean into him either. Instead she studied him, "Your shirt is torn. Did you get attacked?"

He smirked, both at the concern in her voice that she couldn't hide and at the actual situation. "No, I just had a visit form your little friend Rath."

Worry creased her brow, "He's not my friend. What happened?"

"We punched each other, talked then he vandalized my apartment."

"Oh, what did you talk about?"

He looked directly at her for the first time since they'd sat down.

"You."

"Oh." She paused.

"Did he leave for good?"

"Yeah."

"Ah." He wasn't sure what he heard in that Ah, couldn't tell if it was relief or disappointment.

"You upset?"

"Just relieved. One of you is enough to handle."

He accepted that, deciding it was time to change the subject before another fight.

"So how do we do this?"

"Your guess is as good as mine. Though at the wedding the bond wasn't cemented until it was physical."

He was starting to warm up to the idea. "So we need to get physical but not block them out, like usual."

Maria rolled her eyes at his smirk. "Maybe."

"It's worth a shot."

And then he was kissing her, letting himself forget about Courtney and Rath and Fonbar. He pulled her closer, loving the feeling, and he felt Rath start to push at him.

Instead of denying him like usual Michael made room for his past self, letting him come forward but not take total control. They stayed like that for a few moments, floating in tandem.

Then it changed.

They were connected. Michael felt the touch of another mind, its warmth, its feeling of belonging and completeness.

He, they, drifted in that feeling for a few minutes just enjoying it before remembering the purpose. He pulled away and the connection faded in intensity a bit, dulled, but did not break. He looked at Maria, feeling her in the back of his mind, through Rath and Q who were happy to be connected as one and used as a bridge.

She smiled radiantly at him, "It worked."

He wanted to know how well, "What number am I thinking of?"

She focused and he could feel her reaching thorough Q and Rath into his mind. Instinctively he knew she shouldn't be able to read his thoughts, it wasn't part of the deal. But he could feel her doing it. Maybe because they weren't actually joined they weren't limited by the connection since it was only a bridge. Or maybe because she was human and he wasn't fully Antarian anymore. He didn't know.

"17 million."

He nodded.

"What a lame number."

"I wanted to make sure you couldn't just guess."

"On, makes sense. Now you try since you'll be the one reaching through to tap my brain. What song do I have stuck in my head?"

He reached out with his mind going through the mind that was Rath and Q and into Maria's. It was a warm happy place with thoughts floating everywhere like multicolored bubbles. He looked around he could see through her eyes, ear though her ears if he tried. But that was for tomorrow. He heard the tune of a song as if stuck on repeat.

He groaned aloud, "Breakfast at Tiffany's."

She grinned and started singing, "

And I said what about Breakfast at Tiffany's?

She said, "I think I remember the film,

And as I recall, I think we both kinda liked it"

And I said, "Well, that's the one thing we've got""

"Stop! I hate pop!" he exclaimed.

She laughed again. "Yes we all know. It's all about Metallica."

He seriously nodded, "Only decent music."

She looked at him, "Ok, now I'm vaguely hearing Master of Puppets. How do we turn them off?"

"Ask nicely?"

She looked at him. "Michael, I don't think you've ever asked nicely for anything in your entire life."

"I didn't say I would do it. You're nice all the time."

She gave him the weirdest look then closed her eyes concentrating. He could vaguely hear her asking Q nicely to dissolve the connection until tomorrow. Just as vaguely he could hear Q nicely refusing her.

He reached out to Rath but got a wall instead, he pounded on it until Maria talked.

"Michael, Stop. You're giving me a headache. I think were stuck with it for tonight, Q said she'd take it down after we meet Fonbar but not before. She's missed Rath terribly."

"This is ridiculous, they're dead. They don't get to run the show." He growled.

She gave him a hurt look, "Can you really not stand being linked to me for one night?"

He scratched his eyebrow, he'd said the wrong thing again as usual. "No, I just don't like not having control."

"I know you don't." She murmured.

Before he could respond to that the phone rang. He answered. "Hello."

It was Amy DeLuca talking very loudly as if she'd never spoken through a phone before.

"Oh, hi, Michael. Did you guys get the alien mind hotlink thingy working?"

He shot Maria a 'what did you tell your mother' look before answering. "Uh, yeah we got the thingy working."

Maria stifled a smile at Michael's use of the word thingy.

"Oh good. Then you can bring Maria home, it's getting late and I don't want the two of you getting in any trouble"

He knew exactly what kind of trouble Amy DeLuca meant and nearly groaned aloud. One talk had been enough.

"Yes, Mrs.DeLuca."

"Oh, your such a good boy, Michael. I made you some lasagna and pie to take home since you don't have any food at your place. And I got you some cleaning supplies, I'll have to introduce you to something called bleach."

"Uh, ok, Thanks?" Maria's mother was insane but hopefully going to clean his apartment for him.

"And I was thinking that you really should-"

He cut in hopefully stopping the babble. "We've got to go Mrs.DeLuca. I'll see you in a few minutes. Bye."

He hung up the phone and slumped against the counter in relief. He looked over at Maria who was silently laughing at him. "you look like you just escaped prison."

He scowled, "Is your mother always like that on the phone? She's almost as bad as you."

Stopped laughing and glared at him. "Yeah she is. Lets go before she calls again."

He nodded, hurriedly leaving before the phone started to ring.

They walked most of the way in silence, the rest making fun of Kyle. Eventually they got to Maria's house and went inside.

Mrs.DeLuca popped out of a box she'd been digging in. She was still holding a large inflated alien as she flitted over. As she walked by she thrust it into Michael's arms. "Be a goody boy and hold that for a jif."

He scowled at Maria who burst out laughing, but he obediently held the large green alien.

"What's so funny?" Mrs.DeLuca asked

Maria pointed at him, speaking in gasps through her red-faced laughter. "Michael's holding his long lost brother."

Her mother turned and smiled, suddenly realized her faux paux. Michael's scowl just deepened then he thrust the alien at Maria.

Before she could take it or refuse it, Mrs.DeLuca called his him.

He turned and was blinded by a flash. Once his vision cleared he stared at the snap camera she was holding and blinked. It was Maria's mom so he couldn't exactly tackle her or demand it back.

Instead he heard and felt Maria's overwhelming mirth through their connection. He threw the alien at her.

She caught it, 'I'm sorry, Michael. It's just too funny…."

She burst into giggles again. Now that he was thoroughly humiliated and embarrassed he turned to go.

"Wait. Don't forget your lasagna!" Maria's mom came racing back out with a dish of food. She handed it to him then handed him bag after bag of stuff.

"Uh, what is all this?"

Mrs.DeLuca smiled. "oh just some little things to brighten up your place and clean."

"Uh, thanks?"

"Yes, thanks. I'll come over on Saturday and show you what a mop does!"

He just nodded at both of them ready to escape. This was quickly becoming one of his nightmares.

He turned to go but Maria's mother called his name again.

"Michael? Aren't you going to kiss Maria goodnight?"

He winced, weren't mothers supposed to not want that. But no, Maria's mom now was not only involved in her daughters life but in his life and their relationship. It drove him nuts, but it was also the most caring a family had shown for him. Maria's mother was in the process of starting to mother him.

He rubbed the back of his head, "Uh, yeah."

He walked over, feeling the tension between them all over again, both physically and through the connection they shared. He felt trapped by the tension and her mother's watching eyes.

He bent and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, trying to balance everything in his hands. He could feel her disappointment but her mother was also still in the room, and he'd found out she'd cheated on him that day.

He left still feeling awkward and wondering if his night could get any worse.

………………

Michael didn't sleep well that night. He couldn't seem to fall asleep, the roaring of Maria in the back of his mind keeping him awake. He briefly touched her mind, only to find that she was sleeping and dreaming of her father.

Eventually, after staring at his ceiling for a long long time, he drifted off to sleep. His dreams were odd, affected by the activated connection to his past.

He was in his bedchamber, staring at his replica of Earth. He was working on his research, mapping out possible landing sites due to geographical and climatic conditions, when he heard her scream.

He was at the connecting door in a flash, all but breaking it down in his haste. The guard outside her room had done the same.

She was sitting straight up in bed, deathly pale, wide eyed and terrified. He rushed over to her, checking the room for invaders. He found none.

He looked at her, she had no injuries. "Q? What's wrong?"

It stirred her, garnering a response. She looked around vaguely, as if only now registering where she was and that she wasn't alone. Slowly she came back to herself.

"Q?"

She gave him a sheepish smile. "I had a bad dream."

Rath let his battle readiness fade away. He glanced at the smirking guard and motioned him away. The impertinent guard queried, "Should I inform the First Order?"

Wake up the church because their Chosen had a bad dream?

"No. Go back to your post, Private."

He saluted, having lost his smile at his General's tone. Then he was gone and Rath could give her his full attention again.

He sat down gently on the side of her bed, slowly pushing her back into a lying position. She needed her rest, didn't need to be sitting up and draining her limited strength. She was still so weak, so confused and disoriented.

She meekly let him settle her back in to her covers, tucking her in and arranging her hair away from her face.

"Do you want me to stay for awhile?"

She nodded, happy she hadn't had to ask. She was still obviously agitated and upset about whatever she'd seen. So he settled in, leaning up against the wall on her bed.

He let his fingers idly stroke her hair, in a calming gesture. "What did you see?"

Her eyes, her beautiful eyes, were still not right. They weren't the shiny reflective mirrors they once had been. Now they still showed cracks, the little breaks that the possession had left her with. She looked at him, green almost appearing through the cracks in her disturbed gaze.

"Pain. Past, present.. future."

He almost sighed, but didn't. So much of what she said these days didn't make sense to him. He wasn't sure if it made any sense to her either. He wasn't gentle by nature, but for her he would try.

Her eyes drifted away from him, staring vacantly at the ceiling above her. "I was running, stumbling, through the forest. A jungle, back then everything was a jungle, it was a long long time ago. Before Antar was really Antar, back in the forming. I was terrified, they wanted to hurt me, but he had my hand. He was so different that night."

Her hand blindly found his, slipping her small palm into his for reassurance. Reassurance from what he wasn't sure, reassurance that she wasn't crazy? That she wasn't alone? He didn't know but he squeezed her hand anyway, hoping she'd find what she sought.

"So different… He was always so much more, more in ways that I can't explain. He was just more than everyone else was, more than the rest of us. He was part of the formation and I loved him. I shouldn't have, I shouldn't have ever met him, but fate has a funny way of playing tricks on us. But this night he wasn't more, he was almost the same. It was as if they'd stripped his specialness away, left him a mere man. We were running, he was in front and I was behind, blindly clutching his hand as I stumbled. We made it all the way to the clearing, I could see it. He'd built it for me, to keep me safe, to send me to a time when it would be all right for us to be together. It was supposed to be for the Gods but he made it mine, he'd even named it after me. The Granolith."

This time Rath almost gasped, but was afraid to break the spell, ruin the ending. He was shocked, completely and utterly shocked. She continued blithely on.

"I could see it, we were almost there and then his hand slipped away. I couldn't hold on, I fell and fell. He couldn't save me, couldn't stop it. So I fell and fell into the pain. It went on and on."

This time her eyes drifted over to his, the broken mirrors meeting his own. "You weren't there, you couldn't stop it."

He didn't know what she meant, but he felt the need to apologize. "I'm sorry."

Her eyes drifted away from his to the little replica of Earth he'd still been holding when he rushed in. "What's that?"

He reached over, holding it where she could see it better. She sat up, taking it in her hands, dislodging all of his careful tucking. He frowned at her but she merely gave him an odd smile.

"Raaath… what is it?" she used her whiny voice on him. He hated when she did that, she always got what she wanted.

"Earth."

Her eyes looked up at him in wonder, "You have a whole planet, here?"

He laughed, she was so naïve. "No, baby, it's a replica. A model so I can study it."

"Oh. Tell me about it."

"It's a planet with life. Mountains, like Antar used to have a long time ago. Oceans, different seasons."

She smiled wistfully, she'd always wanted to see mountains. "Have you been there?"

"No, but I want to go. I hope I get to see it one day."

Her eyes changed, the mirrors seemed to shatter further. In a sad, transient voice she whispered. "You will."

He wasn't sure what to do, he hated when she got like this. Slightly delusional, slightly prophetic. He decided to just play it as a joke, "Oh, I will? What about you?"

Confusion swept across her wan features, "Maybe. If it works out."

Now he was just curious, he didn't like maybes. "Well if I go, you go. Deal?"

"We won't go the same way. We can't." She was starting to sound slightly hysterical. As if this was all very important and very painful for her.

He started to stroke her hair again, trying to gently get her to lie down again. But she wasn't having any of it. She looked directly at him, her eyes shattering further. Breaking into tiny pieces, the cracks spreading and spreading until green stared back at him.

"Michael? Michael!"

She was clutching at him, wildly looking around. She was hysterical, frantic all over again.

He felt the jealousy rising up again, the stabbing pain at her asking for another. He wanted to break something, but tried focusing on what Arhal had told him. "He's your future or a possibility of it. He's not a threat to you, Rath."

It didn't really help much, but it gave him the strength to hold her through her hysteria. "I want Michael, with his bad hair and snarly behavior. Michael!"

He had no idea who or what she was talking about, but he let her take it out on him. Let her bury her head in his chest while she mumbled and shook. He stroked her back, mumbling softly, in any attempt to get her to calm down. To come back to herself.

Eventually she stopped mumbling, though her tremors kept on. She pulled back looking back up at him, her eyes were slightly better. The green was gone, just the reflectiveness remaining. She looked feverish, sicker than she had in days.

"Rath?" Her voice was soft, drained.

"I'm here." Broken, angry and jealous, but here.

She looked up at him as he helped her lay down again. "You're hurt. I'm sorry."

He couldn't lie to her about the pain. "It's ok. It'll be ok."

She let out a soft sigh, the feverish look in her eyes again. He reached out, placing a hand on her forehead. She was hot, sweating slightly. She needed more medication.

"I need to get the healers for you."

She shook her head. "Stay. Please don't leave."

He sighed, she really did need the healers. "I won't."

He got up off the bed. Getting her a glass of water. He held it to her mouth, helping her drink. Then he raised his voice, "Private."

The guard appeared in the doorway at attention. He took in the scene idly but wisely said nothing. "Yes sir."

"Go fetch the healer on duty, she's not feeling well."

With a salute he was gone. Rath watched him go.

"Rath?" her voice was weak and he hated it.

He turned towards her. She looked completely blitzed.

"Promise me something."

He sat down next to her, intertwining their fingers. He couldn't bear it if she was saying goodbye. "Anything."

"When she gets shot, let him go."

He didn't understand any of this, any of what she was talking about. But he would agree. "I will."

As if sensing his dilemma, she gave him a loopy smile. "You'll know, part of you will remember."

……………………..

He slipped from one dream to another, not waking or stirring. This time though it wasn't his memory. It was hers; shared through the connection that bound them.

She was ready to go everything was packed up in neat little boxes and bags. She outside on the temple's steps eagerly, as if she was still a little girl who couldn't wait to get going. This was her first big move and she was thrilled. She would be free, away from the priests who treated her like a freak for not having any gifts, or from the priests who showed the proper respect but it was laced with loathing and pity.

She sighed, where were they? Rath promised they'd come before the midmorning break. But here it was, midmorning break and all, and she was waiting on the steps. All she wanted today was the guard to show up and take her and her things to the castle. To the castle because "Zan" was worried that she'd blabbermouth her message everywhere, the message they weren't following.

She knew the truth, Zan could care less where she was, but Rath wanted her at the castle for unknown reasons. She didn't really care why she was going, she was just happy she was and that she'd be under Rath's protection. Which meant that nobody could bother her or threaten her or be mean.

Rath, he was in her mind all the time now. In her thoughts and daydreams, and she didn't know how to stop it. She wasn't sure if she wanted to, she felt so different with him, as if she didn't have to pretend. He'd kissed her twice and at first she'd been worried that she'd been doing something very very forbidden, but Arhal had cleared that up. Now that she felt less guilty about it she couldn't wait for him to do it again.

A xehg came roaring up the drive, almost hitting her but turning at the last moment coming to a screeching halt. She jumped to her feet, ready to yell at whomever almost killed her but stopped abruptly.

Rath hopped out shooting her a daredevil grin, "Sorry I'm late. There was a minor invasion I had to take care of."

She laughed weakly. A minor invasion? What was she thinking getting involved with him?

"You're late." The voice said in accusatory tone from behind her.

Q spun around to see who would talk to Rath that way.

Fonbar.

She sighed; he would talk to Rath that way. He wasn't totally sane, hadn't been since the death of his Uron.

Rath just stared at him, "What are you going to do about it?"

Q didn't want to deal with them so she picked up her instrument and took it over to the xehg, placing it carefully inside. She walked back to get some of her other things but Rath stopped her, placing a hand on her arm.

"I'll get it."

She shrugged; it didn't matter to her if he wanted to carry her stuff. "I wasn't expecting you to come yourself, I thought part of the guard was coming."

He matched her shrug, "Why waste valuable men when I can do it myself?"

She let her hair fall in front of her face, hiding her smile. He just wanted to do it himself, to see her and know she knew it. It was worth the extra hour of inconvenience for her.

"Qaelia?" Fonbar asked.

She turned to him, feeling guilty, she'd forgotten he was still there.

"Are you sure you don't want me to come, as a personal guard? I'm already packed…"

Before she could respond Rath jumped in, "I'll be keeping her safe. She doesn't need any 'personal' guards."

Fonbar stared back at him bitterly, but then deliberately turned to her. "Like I said are you sure you don't want me to come?"

For a second she thought Rath was going blast him to bits. Though his face never changed to the untrained eye she caught the minuscule tightening around his eyes that screamed danger.

She smiled sweetly at Fonbar nonchalantly trodding over Rath's foot as she walked over to him. "I'm sure, besides your needed here."

He looked devastated. It made her slightly uncomfortable, she hated disappointing people, but disappointing Rath would be much harder.

"I'll come back and visit the temple."

He nodded then stepped forward drawing her into a tight hug. She stiffened, he was touching her. He wasn't supposed to touch her, wasn't allowed to. People weren't allowed to touch the Chosen unless they were priests or of the same rank.

She didn't know what to do; the only person that had touched her in the last month and a half was Rath. She felt him pressing his lips to her forehead and it turned her stomach. Somehow she had a feeling she most definitely wasn't supposed to respond like she did with Rath.

But she was saved from making any decisions when Rath pulled him off of her. He'd been on the other side of the xehg when it started but apparently had noticed. She looked up into Rath's face to see if he was angry with her. He was livid, absolutely furious, but not with her.

He hadn't let go of Fonbar's arm and was actually dragging him away. He stopped far enough away that she couldn't tell what was being said. All she could hear were his eerily calm tones that were laced with icy controlled anger. It made her shiver.

She didn't know what was going on, why he was reacting that way. It was improper but it wasn't that big of a deal. But Rath was furious, his body language screamed that he was about to fight and Fonbar's wasn't much better.

Q gnawed on her lip, she wasn't sure what to do. Regardless she walked over to them; they stopped their argument when she got near enough to hear what they'd been saying. She smiled at them, "It's ok Rath, it's not a big deal."

He started to say something to argue with her but she held up her hand. "No. Look, I'm tired and we've got a long way to go."

He swallowed whatever he was going to say and merely nodded. Placing his hand in the palm of her back he led her back over to the xehg. There was no real reason for him to touch her, but Q had a feeling he was doing it on purpose. As if to show Fonbar that he was allowed to touch her while Fonbar couldn't. He helped her up into the xehg.

He silently walked around and got in the driver's seat. She stared out her window at Fonbar who was still standing where Rath had left him. She happily waved at him, but he merely looked angry.

As they pulled away she turned to Rath, "What was that all about?"

He scowled at her, his good humor from earlier gone. "What?"

"You know, the manly overreaction, angry conversation where I couldn't hear.."

"He's not allowed to touch you." He muttered.

"Uh, solider boy? You're not really allowed to touch me either…"

He just gave her a haughty look, "I'm the General, I can touch whomever I want."

She burst out laughing, he was so ridiculous. She knew it bristled against his ego but didn't really care, she was free. But she wanted a real answer.

"Raaattth, what was it really about?" She made sure to use her whiniest voice, the one he absolutely hated. The one she'd discovered he absolutely couldn't say no to.

"Don't use that voice on me or I'll make you sleep in another cave."

"Raaatth!"

He scowled and caved. "Fine. He has an… attachment to you."

She was confused, what did he mean. "We're friends."

He didn't look at her, "Not that kind of attachment."

"You mean an attachment like you have? But I don't have an attachment as you call it for him.."

He let out a bark of laughter that startled her. He rarely laughed, or smiled. She treasured that small laugh.

"Not exactly like mine. Look, don't worry about it. I took care of it."

He'd closed the subject and no matter how much whining she did he wouldn't reopen it. She sighed she really wanted to know more, but at the same time she trusted him completely. If he said he took care of it, he took care of it. It's just how Rath was.

"Rath?"

"Hmmm."

"Are you really going to make me sleep in another cave? I really hate bugs…"

He started laughing again, only this time he pulled the xehg over, off of the empty road they'd been traveling on. She sat there pouting; she hated getting laughed at, especially by him. But she also really didn't want to sleep on the ground again.

He just shook his head, "No caves and no bugs. Anything else, your highness?"

She pouted at him, "Just because you sleep on the ground with bugs crawling all over you all the time doesn't mean I do. And I most definitely don't like it; nature and me aren't friends. That doesn't make me a princess, it makes me civilized."

He stared at her for a long moment then leaned over and kissed her. It ended much to soon for her liking, but it made her tingle all over. Alas, they were on an open road and definitely couldn't dally where they could be seen.

He pulled the xehg back onto the road. She reached up and touched her lips, smiling softly. He was infuriating but he drew her like a flame.

"What was that for?"

He shrugged, "I felt like it."

"Do you always do whatever you feel like?"

He turned his head to glance at her. His eyes were hard, unmoving. "Yes. I've earned that right."

She almost shivered but didn't. He was so intimidating sometimes, so much more that she could ever be. He was only 5 years older but on days like today it seemed like centuries.

She didn't say anything, what was there to say. He was right, he'd earned it with his blood and sweat. So she merely closed her eyes and settled in to sleep.

……………..

Maria sat in the Crashdown across from Alex in the booth. They were both nervous, well nervous and scared. But both were also determined to see this through the end. They were talking to try and keep everything as normal as possible and distract themselves from everything that could go wrong.

"So I heard you and Mr. Gruff and Tough had a huge blowout at Kyle's."

She sighed, "Who told you that, Kyle?"

"Of course, he gossips more than you and Liz.'

"Silly, Buddha."

"So.. spill to Alex. I'm your only constant man.."

"It's complicated. He kissed Courtney, we fought, and then Q kissed his dupe. Now everybody is all upset, not to mention we've been stuck in this mind connection all day. Though it did help during my algebra quiz, he's actually super at math."

He reached out and patted her hand. "Why is it with you and Michael everything is always so cosmic?"

He sighed, "Don't worry, Maria. It won't work out.."

Her head snapped up, that wasn't an Alex thing to say. Alex was always positive and reassuring to the point of lying.

She withdrew her hand from underneath his slowly while reaching out to reassuring Michael presence in the back of her mind.

Alex or who now controlled him, smiled at her easily. "You look beautiful."

Maria tried not to shift uncomfortably but it didn't fully work. She didn't say anything.

He continued on, "It's like the night we met all over again. You were so beautiful, swooping into save me in my darkest your. You took me home, fed me, and listened to me and my pain. Do you remember it?"

She shook her head, "No, I'm sorry."

He gave her a sad sort of smile, "It was the best night of my life. I'm sure it'll come back to you. Now I want to explain about the other night."

He reached for her hand but she put it in her lap. She felt Michael's agitation flare up in the back of her mind. She focused on trying to soothe him to keep her own fears at bay.

Fonbar looked at where her hand had been and slowly withdrew his own. "I know I hurt you and I'm deeply sorry, so terribly sorry. I had to punish myself for it. I wanted to see you so bad, but I wasn't used to the disorientation."

"Disorientation? From what?" She interrupted.

"From controlling a mind from far away, the distance is so great that it skews perceptions and makes emotions and reactions stronger, less controlled."

"Far away" she echoed "So your on Antar."

He nodded, that was one question off her list. Now it was her turn to gamble.

She let her voice be hesitant, "Would you come here? I mean for me, I want to see you again, but not like this. Not where I have to worry that you'll go berserk and hurt me again.."

He smiled, seeming pleased at her answer and the prospect. "Anything you want, love. Anything you want."

Michael's anger and indignation flared up again. She dimly felt him start to stand then being roughly shoved back down by Kyle. She heard the echo of, "Sit down, lone wolf. Sit it down."

Maria smiled at that, Kyle's taking his role so seriously. "I'd like that."

Fonbar smiled at her, "So would i. I'll come on Thursday.

She smiled shyly, getting ready for the next part of the plan.

But then Liz was there, "Is there anything I can get for you?"

Maria gave her a reassuring smile, "Just some more water, please."

She grinned back at her friend. "And you, Alex?"

"A cherry coke."

"Alrighty." Liz wandered off to get their drinks and check in with two of her other customers, Tess and Max.

Maria decided to lead the conversation in the direction she wanted it to go.

"There's so much I want to know. Tell me about yourself and how you can reach across the galaxy.."

He shrugged, the flattery and attention going to his head. "It's all about power and training. It's one of the things all elite soldiers are taught."

"What else are they taught?" She was thinking about Michael and Rath and how that training how affected him.

He reached out and touched her cheek softly, she did her best not to recoil.

"Those aren't things you should worry about."

"Oh, are you still in the Antarian army thingy?"

He shook his head, bitterness and old anger flaring up. It was a terrifying picture and it flashed her back to the night he'd hit her. She felt the images begin to flash through her mind with overwhelming fear. She felt Michael through the connection, he was starting to flip out.

Royally and totally flip out, he was seeing her memories of that night, feeling her fear. And he was responding to it, responding to her fear with his anger, his need to protect.

Fonbar was talking again, pulling her out of her mind. "No, I'm not in the service anymore. Meta died, I shattered and Rath took the rest of me."

………..

Kyle was sitting in the back room with Michael and Isabel. Isabel had her eyes shut, trying to concentrate on entering Fonbar's mind. Michael was also silent in concentration so that left Kyle to his own devices.

He went back to his game of solitaire, letting his mind wander to how he would save the world. It would be a big amazing feat that would make the envy of all other men and wanted by all the girls.

He smiled at the thought.

He looked around again wondering what was going on, he was so in the dark without powers. His job was just to baby-sit Michael and keep him from pounding on Alex if it wasn't necessary.

But there was one thing he didn't understand, how was he supposed to know when it was necessary?

Just as he was wondering this very important point Michael stood up. Kyle jumped to his feet as well, "Sit down, Michael."

Kyle reached out and grabbed Michael. They struggled briefly, "Stop it Michael, you'll get hurt."

Michael's dark intense gaze turned towards him. "She's scared, terrified, hurting."

Kyle paused, nobody had come to warn him. He heard no screaming, "Buddha, forgive me."

And he punched Michael, square in the jaw and with hears of wrestling and knowing he was a hoss, he sprung. He pinned Michael down, keeping him there with 160 pounds of tones Roswell Rockets wrestling. Michael struggled and struggled but Kyle had him in the unbreakable pin.

They stayed that way for minutes with Michael struggling and cursing and Kyle trying to sedate the wild animal. He beat an evil death bearing scorpion, he most definitely could restrain an angry alien who looked like a cartoon character. Slowly but surely he was working his way up the Mortal Kombat scale, one step at a time to saving the world.

Eventually the crisis passed with Michael calming down, still unhappy and angry with Kyle but back under control.

Kyle looked down at him, "you good?"

Michael scowled, "Yeah. Now let me up."

Kyle hesitated, he didn't want to die. "Are we good? I mean your not going to hold this against me or anything because alien powers really are no fair..'

Michael half smiled, 'Let me up and find out."

That was enough for Kyle, in an odd way he felt reassured. He let him up. Michael sat up, rubbing his jaw.

Kyle leaned back, "So what's the sitch?"

Michael totally ignored Kyle's bad pop culture reference. 'The situation is she's getting a lot out of him but he's scaring her."

"Stalking will do that… except in your case it seems to work out."

"Shut up, Kyle."

"I'm just saying you look in her window every night for months and she totally digs it. It's crazay, must have to do with being a you know what.'

"You talk way to much."

Kyle shrugged, "It's a gift."

Then a fist hit him squarely in the face and Michael was halfway out of the room.

Dazed, knowing he was tricked Kyle laid on the floor trying to get his brain working again.

The last thing he heard was faint "We're even, Buddha."

…………….

Nicholas stood outside the Crashdown eating an ice cream cone looking in through the window. He was enjoying himself immensely watching the scene unfold.

His favorite part, the one he most wanted on a highlight video, was when the pathetic human Rath had become came storming out.

It was right after Fonbar had brought up Granixing with Maria. And like an explosion Michael was there, flinging the back door open and stalking in. He got right up in the dark haired human host's face, grasping his head between his hands and snarling, "Don't you ever say that again. If you try and bond with her, let alone think it, I will spread your entrails throughout this galaxy after shattering your soul and burying it in the great abyss."

It was so amusing to Nicholas what Michael didn't know is that Fonbar had left his host as soon as he saw Michael coming.

Alex looked terrified, "Uh, Michael? Can you let go now, helpless human…."

He pulled back breathing hard, still furious.

Nicholas turned away as the Siren tried to calm him. It wouldn't really work, Nicholas knew, Rath wouldn't tolerate the threat of her being taken away from him again.

He tossed his ice cream cone in the trash smiling. It was all going according to plan. The blonde was more useful than she knew, convincing Fonbar to come to Earth all on her own. Nicholas could imagine how it would all play out perfectly.

Because Rath in his pathetic half-human form was no match for a full Antarian solider. And they would fight, that was a given. Then two of his problems would be gone, Rath would be dying, and the girl, grief-stricken and terrified, would be willing to take his deal. She'd go back to Antar with him and as for Rath, he'd die anyway, deal or no deal.

Yes, Nicholas was having a good day.


	21. Chapter 16

Author's note: Thanks for all the lovely reviews!

Trude: THanks for the review! Poor Alex yes, but he did volunteer...

Candylovin Fehrian: aww thanks, yeah Nicholas and good days is never good for anyone else. I'm happy you liked hte Antar scenes, they're fun to write and this chappie has alot of htem. Your right about 'her getting shot' being a reference to Liz. Just think that if Michael didn't let Max go then there would be no Michael and Maria. Kyle, Kyle, what can I say about Kyle? He's got a slightly delusional ego but as he says in an earlier part "I'm a risk taking man".

Red-rumm: First off i really like your name, everytime I see it it makes me think of truth or dare. We used to write it on people's cars with lipstick and leave like gloves with hair dye nearby. Oh man, back to the point thanks for the review!

higherbeingfriendsfan: Ha, yeah Q whining till she got her way. Maria does it all the time with Michael I figure she had some practice before. I'm happy you like Kyle and his hilarious ways.

Collision Part 16 "Sacrifice"

_In another time, in another place  
I'll be born again with a different face_

What I hold inside will survive to see  
manifest itself when again I'll be

I give all I have done, what I could have become for this  
dream

Dedicate this one life - This is my sacrifice  
Burn down all my bridges, abandon all I have  
let go of this world I worshipped so  
"Sacrifice" - Dreamwalk

Tess stood next to Max watching Maria, Michael and Alex in the aftermath of Fonbar leaving. Michael was thoroughly checking Maria over for injuries and slights while Alex babbled on about something.

The back room door swung open once again and Kyle came out rubbing his face. He veered over to stand next to Tess.

"You ok there, Buddha boy?" Tess queried, taking in his slightly dazed look.

His chest swelled up with imagined manliness. "Fine. Just look at them, he's got major problems."

Tess smiled with amusement but obligingly looked at Michael. "He does?"

Kyle was working himself up, "I mean, yeah. He's got these huge protective/ possessive issues, especially over Maria. I mean the guy is totally obsessive. Not to mention his violent tendencies or his 'trick the enemy' tendencies."

"Well, she did die on him last time. I think he has a right to be protective."

"Protective yes but possessive no. Sometimes it's like she's his favorite toy, and he's got tons of alien related psychological issues."

At her glare he tried again, "And tons of non-alien related problems. I mean the guy skips class more than the entire skater clique. What's he gonna do with his life to provide for Maria?"

Tess smiled, "Just look at those guns he's got. He could probably make some major bucks as an arm wrestling champion…"

Kyle who was about to agree with her stopped abruptly, 'You're mocking me aren't you?"

She just patted his shoulder and headed towards the group at the table.

"He got the jump on me, totally tricked me…" he yelled after her.

She didn't even turn around "You keep telling yourself that, Scorpion Slayer."

He followed after her stopping next to Alex. He bent down and in a loud whisper asked, "How'd the mind invasion go?"

Alex moaned "I need an aspirin or a bottle of sedatives."

Kyle nodded sagely, "Scooby snacks… or Scooby sedatives.'

Maria perked up, tearing her attention away from Michael. "Sedatives? What are you guys talking about?"

"Scooby snacks." Kyle promptly responded.

Her brow furrowed, "Uh, Kyle that's got nothing to do with sedatives."

Alex jumped in, "Au Contraire. Scooby doo was during the 70s, it has everything to do with each ohter. I mean have you seen Shaggy. He totally screams drug addict, plus he and Scooby are obviously addicted to 'Scooby snacks' which are really sedatives."

Maria just looked at him for a moment then turned back to Michael and Liz. Liz was fussing over her, stroking her hair softly and making clucking noises.

"Lets all go in the break room." Max suggested, slipping into the leadership role with an effort.

Everyone agreed so they all got up and moved to the back.

Once there Maria and Michael plopped down on the couch, making room for Alex as well.

"Is everyone ok?" Liz asked anxiously, looking from face to face.

Michael was emotionless, "Peachy."

Maria nodded, "Shaken and stirred but doing just fine."

Michael gave her an unreadable look that confused Liz. She never got how Maria and Michael communicated. Instead she turned to Alex.

He gave her a weary smile in return; "I have one heck of a headache, kind of like I was possessed."

Kyle cracked a smile at Alex. The aliens just looked slightly miffed.

Liz looked at Isabel. She had a weary look that mirrored everyone else's, "I feel pretty much like Alex."

Alex's eyes narrowed, "You were there. You were in my, his, mind."

Isabel nodded. "I was in his mind, not yours."

Alex gave her a brilliant smile, "I know."

"How touching. Now back to what everyone learned." Michael was being his usual rude, sarcastic, considerate self.

"I love when he's in a good mood." Kyle muttered softly to Alex who sniggered in response.

"Well, I guess I should go first since I talked to him. He's on Antar but he's going to come here to see me. And he's working directly for someone called Kivar, who's on the throne."

Max interrupted, "So he's not working for Nicholas?"

Maria shook her head, "Not as far as I can tell, but someone came charging out before I could finish making sure."

Michael scowled, 'You were upset, scared, and he was talking about Granixing with you. What was I supposed to do?"

She contritely put her hand on his arm, "I'm sorry. But how did you get past Kyle?"

"I punched him."

Maria made a Ah noise.

"No, you tricked me then viciously attacked." Kyle denied fervently.

Michael just gave Kyle a weird look, "Whatever."

"Take a pill, Kyle." Isabel piped up, putting a hand to her head.

"What did you find out Isabel?" Liz asked.

"He's a total nutcase with a seriously disturbing Maria obsession. Like he even has a lock of her hair he stole from a hairbrush and wears it in a capsule around his neck. It's totally sick. I'm not sure I'll ever look at you the same again, Maria."

"Yada, Yada. Anything we didn't already know?" Michael cut in; he really didn't want to hear about how in love with Maria some other guy was.

"Don't be so touchy, Michael. You have to deal with it anyway. But yes, I did get some juicy tidbits. He's really strong, I've never felt so much power in one place before. And he's trained, totally dangerous and he wants you dead Michael. Worse than dead. He totally hates you for how you treated on Antar and he thinks that if you're out of his way Maria will fall in love with him."

"He wants Michael dead?" Maria was near hysterical.

When nobody refuted the statement she turned to Michael clutching his arm, digging her nails in.

"You can't die, Michael. I won't let it happen."

His mind immediately flashed to the deal she'd been offered by Nicholas. He almost panicked but his control, Rath's control, kept it from happened.

With an urgency in his voice that mirrored hers he assured her, "I'm not going anywhere. I'm not dying.'

Liz cut it, trying to forestall an intensely private Maria-Michael moment. "Anything else, Isabel?"

Isabel shot Michael a tentative look.

"He's been in touch with Courtney –"

"I'm going to kill her." He growled.

Max sighed "Do you know what about?"

Michael was still growling to himself. "She's so dead, worse than dead. I warned her and she still betrayed me."

Kyle obviously trying to make Michael feel better piped up, "Maybe she'll be reincarnated as a cockroach, because Buddha says our karma determines our next reincarnation. And then you can kill her again by stepping on her!"

Alex started cracking up and he just kept going. He laughed and laughed until he abruptly passed out.

Everyone started to get worried with Maria shaking Alex.

"Maria! Stop. It's what happened to the other guy after Fonbar possessed him." Liz cut in, prying Maria off of her other best friend.

"Well what happened to him, is he all right?" Maria urgently demanded.

Liz started working to reassure and calm her friend down. "He's fine, he came in for breakfast the next day."

"Breakfast, breakfast is good." Maria repeated, nodding her head vigorously.

Liz looked over Maria to Michael. He looked alarmed, he caught her questioning gaze.

"She's about to flip." He confirmed, feeling it through the connection that bound them.

Liz's mind blanked for a millisecond, then she went into coping mode.

She reached around blindly for a glass of water while Michael turned Maria to him, putting his hands on the side of her face.

"Mara? Listen to me. It's ok, everything is fine."

He moved her head up and down in a nodding motion.

Liz handed Maria the glass of water with a commandment to drink while wondering why Michael was trying to hard to keep her from losing it.

Then she realized that Michael and Maria were still connected. If Maria flipped out what would it do to Michael?

Maria drank the water in one gulp. Then looked over at the still slumped Alex and Isabel who was tenderly tending to him.

Her eyes widened then she looked at Liz, "Alex is hurt. Hurt because of me! Then.. then."

She started to hyperventilate. "Then Fonbar's coming back on Thursday and he's gonna hurt Michael and make me his slave. Then Michael and Alex will be hurt and dying. And that's bad, really bad. All because of me. And Kyle's hurt because Michael hit him because of me…"

Liz looked to Max for help because Maria was really hyperventilating in full babble mode and Liz had no idea where her oils were and because Alex wasn't there to help calm Maria down.

But Max was no help; he was focused on Michael. Liz spared a glance for Michael, he had his head buried between his hands with his elbows resting on his knees.

He was breathing hard, almost hyperventilating himself.

Liz looked back to Maria who was still babbling her head off, "Everyone's hurt because of me. Oh god, he's gonna hurt me. He's gonna hurt me again. He's gonna make me some weird Maria puppet like Kyle's puppet dolls, but it will hurt and there will be no Michael to save me because Michael will be dead! Oh god, he's gonna hurt me, I could see it in his eyes. Isabel said Maria obsession –"

Kyle cut her off, "Maria what's your favorite Scooby Doo character?"

It startled her enough that it stopped the babble brigade. "Uh uh uh uh Shaggy."

She paused and Kyle gave a cocky grin, thinking he'd solved the hysterical issue with his shock tactics.

Then she started back up again, "Shaggy… Shaggy looks like Michael. Michael is Shaggy, Shaggy is Michael. People don't die in cartoons so Michael can't die…"

She kept going as Kyle's grin faded then disappeared. He hadn't solved anything, just given her more things to babble about. Kyle looked over to see why Michael wasn't shutting Maria up and see how he was handling all this talk of his dying.

He wasn't handling it well, not at all. Max was trying to get him to breathe into a paper bag to stop the hyperventilation but it wasn't working. Michael kept batting his hands away weakly with his head face down between his knees. He looked like he was about to puke or pass out, or do both.

Apparently while Michael could usually smirk and tune out Maria's babble he couldn't do it while they were connected and it filled his mind.

Kyle took a moment to think about what it would be like to have Maria's hysterical babble fill his mind.

He shuddered.

"Maria. Shut up." Michael pushed it out, syllable by syllable, as if in great pain.

Oddly enough Michael's gruff tones got through to her where Liz's gentle coddling and Kyle's own distractions hadn't.

She stopped short, cutting herself off mid alien. "Michael?"

"Stop." It was another forced out answer.

Her breathing was starting to slow, slowly going back to a normal rate. Some of the vacant hysteria was beginning to recede from her eyes.

"Are you ok?"

She had her hands on his back now, rubbing them in soothing circles.

"Overwhelmed."

He responded, still with his head between his knees. Max was on the floor next to him, anxiously looking up into his face. His color was getting better, the nausea he'd been plagued with slowly receding.

She nodded, calming down further, focusing herself solely on rubbing his back to help him. "It gets like that."

"It blows." He said, finally sitting up.

He leaned back, rubbing his face with his hands. "Can we disconnect now?"

She closed her eyes for a moment, obviously severing whatever connection they had.

"Blessed silence" he exhaled. Both he and Rath were relieved, separated from the hysteria that plagued her.

Kyle laughed.

Maria was rubbing Michael's arm gently, looking anxiously up into his face. "Anyone have an aspirin?"

"Or the bottle." Michael asked.

Kyle nodded to himself wisely, "Scooby sedatives."

"Shut up, Kyle." Michael still wasn't in a good mood, he was exhausted. In fact he looked horrible, drained.

"All right guys, cool it. Lets everyone take a bread for a while, calm down and regroup ourselves. We can talk about this more later." Max said looking from one exhausted face to another.

"What about Alex?" Isabel asked.

Max sighed, "I'll take a look at him, see what I can do."

Isabel nodded, that was all she could ask for.

Maria and Michael got up and drifted away without much of a goodbye. Maria was fussing over Michael the whole time.

Kyle and Max carried Alex up the stairs into Liz's room.

And everyone took a much needed break.

…………………….

Maria drove them back to her house apologizing in intervals and when she wasn't apologizing she was checking on him discreetly. She knew he hated it when she fussed over him, but she couldn't help it. Focusing on him kept her from focusing on other things, scary things.

"What?" he scowled at from the passenger seat.

"I'm sorry." She said it impulsively for the 9th time during the car ride.

He sighed, "I know Maria. Stop apologizing, it wasn't your fault."

"But it was, Spaceboy. I flipped without thinking bout you. And I totally flipped I mean I lost it. I couldn't think, everything was just too much."

He gave her a sardonic look. "I know, believe me I know."

She turned to face him realizing what she'd put him through. "Oh my God, Michael-"

He turned her face back to the road.

"I'm ridiculous. I'm a joke."

Her face turned back to him, he turned it back to the road. "Pull over."

She did so, still looking about to break down again. Then she put her head against the wheel just sitting there as he got out of the car and walked around to the drivers side. He opened the door of the car but Maria kept her face against the wheel.

"C'mon, Maria. Switch seats with me, I'll drive."

"Unnnngggghhhh." Was the only reply he got.

He reached in, pushing her back so that she was sitting up again. He reached around her, unbuckling her seatbelt.

"Get out of the car."

"I'm a mess." She said, sounding very close to going off the handle.

"Yes, a mess who's getting out of the car." He replied while pulling her out of the car.

She got out willingly and he took her around to the other side putting her carefully in. She docilely let him take care of her, buckling in her seatbelt for her and shutting the door. He was starting to get worried. When Maria was upset she babbled, she talked and talked, or she cried. She didn't got quiet and catatonic.

He got in himself and quickly started the car up again.

"Maria, you ok?" he said glancing over at her while driving down the road.

"I have a really bad headache." She replied listlessly leaning her head against the window.

He nodded turning onto her street. "Oh ok."

She shut her eyes so he simply drove the rest of the way in silence.

He parked announcing that they were there and got out of the car. She made no move to follow so Michael went back to the car and go there out.

Still worried he led her into the house by her hand and she still made no response. He made her take an aspirin.

She choked on the pill, coughing violently. Michael slapped her on the back until she managed to swallow it down. She leaned her head against him after it was done.

"Why don't you like down for awhile?'

She just gave a vague nod, her eyes looking unfocused.

He was starting to get really worried now, she looked dreadful. He took her to the bedroom and sat her down on the bed.

He peered intently into her vague eyes, "What kind of headache?"

"Alien induced migraine." She sounded far away.

He pushed her back on the bed into a lying position, hating that he couldn't fix her head. Couldn't take away the pain or protect her from it. "Is it dangerous?"

"No."

He started tucking the covers around her.

"Ok, take a nap." He bent and gave her a kiss on the forehead. He was intending on chilling in the front room and watching TV for awhile, so she could rest in peace.

"Michael?"

"Yeah."

"Stay with me." She whispered.

He nodded, fleetingly hoping that Amy DeLuca wouldn't come in and kill him.

He lay down on the bed on his back, letting her curl pup against him with her head on his chest. He wrapped his arm around her and she sleepily murmured, "Michael?"

"Hmm."

"I love you."

He looked down at her face but she was already asleep. He pulled her closer, just getting settled in when the memory took him.

…………………..

He was at a gathering, not a large amount of people but large enough that Rath wished he could leave. Of course he couldn't, his status, his position guaranteed he would have to stay.

Vilandra had asked him to get her a drink so he'd walked over to get two drinks, grateful to get away and thinking that he could use another drink himself.

He was halfway back to the group when Q bounded over to him, thrilled. She was all but bouncing in her gown. It was her first social occasion since she'd come to the palace.

"Oh, is that for me?" she asked grabbing the drink and draining it in one gulp before he could stop her.

"What is that?" she asked sputtering and spitting.

"Woksa, alcohol." She made a face at him, not liking his answer.

"Uh oh." She said and he couldn't agree more.

He could literally see it hitting her system like a truck.

"Uh oh." She said again slightly slurred sounding.

He smirked, setting down his own drink taking her by the arm. "Never drank before?"

She shook her head, looking around in alcohol induced wonder. "Never once. I'm not supposed to."

She stepped forward, stumbling slightly. He steadied her automatically looking around to see if anyone had noticed. It wouldn't do to have one of the Chosen drunk in public.

He started to guide her towards the door, hoping for a quick getaway, but she stopped grabbing his arm.

In a loud whisper she said, "He has blue hair! Isn't that funny?"

As she started to giggle uncontrollably he followed the direction her finger was pointing. It was Zan.

He almost groaned, Zan had seen the finger and was now heading towards them.

She was still laughing when Zan got near but despite her giggles she obviously recognized him. She started to get excited, clutching Rath's arm even tighter.

In a loud voice she exclaimed, "Hey! You're the one whose not listening to my –"

Rath slapped his hand over her mouth before she could finish the sentence or say anything else. He could hear her still trying to talk through his hand.

Zan gave her an odd look as his wife joined him.

Q had stopped talked so Rath took his hand off her mouth letting it settle on her shoulder. Just in case.

She looked at the queen.

"You're so pretty." She blurted.

Zan looked at Q, at her unfocused eyes, and then to Rath. "What's wrong with her?"

Rath half smiled. "She's drunk. She accidentally drained Vilandra's drink."

Tav smiled at the girl who was now absorbed by a shiny metal on Rath's uniform.

She gave it a violent yank, trying to take it. It didn't come off so she yanked again, this time harder.

"Ow. Stop that." Rath snapped at her.

Tav covered her giggle with a comment, "You better get her to bed."

Rath wanted to say that he wasn't her nursemaid but realized it was the perfect opportunity to leave the gathering.

Q looked at Zan again, "You didn't listen to me-"

Rath slapped his hand over her mouth again.  
"We're going."

He all but drug her out of the main dining room. Once they were in the hallway he let go of her, letting her stumble on her own. She almost knocked over a vase, he barely managed to catch it before it hit the ground.

She wandered away into the main hall. When he caught up she was staring at a painting of him, laughing silently. He didn't see what was so funny about the painting, he looked good in it.

After laughing for a few more minutes she abruptly sat down on the floor.

"Q, Get up." He said, starting to get annoyed with her antics.

"I'm tired." She whined at him.

Well he was tired to, but you didn't see him sitting on the floor. He tried again, sterner this time "Get up."

She only held out her arms like a small child wanting to be picked up. "Raaatthh.."

He ran his hands through his hair in an effort not to strangle her. "I'm not carrying you."

She gave him the cutest pouty look, "Raath.."

He almost caved but his pride wouldn't let him. Instead he pulled her up by her hands.

She stumbled into him, "I hate you."

He rolled his eyes, turning her around and urging her forward. "No you don't."

She didn't answer him, just kept staggering forward.

They made it into the private halls before he noticed his shoe was untied.

"Q, stop for a second. I need to tie my shoe."

She obliged, twirling in a circle while he bent down to fix his shoe. "Rath?"

He made a noncommittal noise, not bothering to look up. She probably had seen a shiny object.

"Did you know that some of the Chosen can walk through walls?" she asked sounding completely blitzed.

Alarmed, he looked up just in time to see her collide headfirst with the wall. She apparently did not have the skill of walking through walls. Only his reflexes, trained and honed for years from fighting, caught her before she hit the ground.

He looked down at her in his arms, she was completely out of it. "Ouch."

"Yes, ouch." He confirmed pulling her back up. Her legs wouldn't support her after collision with the wall and she crumpled again.

He ended up carrying her anyway, despite his earlier refusals. He glanced around making sure there was nobody around to see them. Then he boosted her onto his back, piggyback style. He hadn't carried a girl on his back since they were kids and Lonnie used to demand he be her pony.

"You smell good." She slurred breathing down his neck.

He almost shivered from her breath, but focused on responding to her vocally with a smirk. "I try."

They got to her room and he went in, depositing her on the bed.

"Ratth" she whined, throwing her feet in his lap.

He made another noncommittal noise helping her take her shoes off.

"I feel funny." She confided in him, using a conspiratorial tone.

"I bet you do.' He replied, amused.

She jumped off the bed once he had her shoes off staggering around her room. She picked up an empty frame, "Why don't I have a picture of you?"

He smirked at her over his shoulder as he got her bed ready, "I don't do pictures."

She giggled at him as he started rooting around for the stuffed animal he knew she still slept with. He knew if she were sober she'd be mortified that he knew, but he didn't care. When he couldn't sleep he'd made it a habit to go watch her sleeping peacefully, so he knew all about the little stuffed animal Arhal had given her when she was a little girl.

"I'm getting tired." She told him with a yawn.

He held the doll up in triumph and she immediately grabbed it out of his hands, clutching it to her chest.

"Bed time." He said as sternly as he could while secretly thinking she was adorable. He'd never tell her that of course, he'd never told her how beautiful he thought she was. It was too hard to say the words, to let her know that she made him weak.

She shook her head, scampering out of his reach. "Not till you feed my pet."

He was perplexed for a moment, she didn't have any pets. "Q, you don't have a pet."

She looked indignant, "I do too. She's furry and small and makes a noise like this. Meeewwww. Mewwwww."

He looked at her, making her little noise and rubbed his face. She was driving him crazy.

"Qaelia, it's all in your head."

He grabbed her around the waist, trying to get her into bed. She struggled against him, "No! Not till you feed my pet!"

He let her go after she nipped his hand. She'd bitten him, she'd actually bitten him. "I'm not feeding your fracking imaginary pet. What do I look like, your mother?"

She gave him a sad, doleful look and he immediately regretted snapping at her. "I don't have a mother. I never had a mommy."

He didn't know how to handle this. Didn't know how to handle her being drunk, let alone her sudden wanting of a mother. Somehow he knew offering to share his mother wouldn't go over well.

He sighed looking at her anxious face. "What does 'your pet' eat?"

She looked at him as though he were stupid. "Pet food, of course."

"Of course." He muttered, all his earlier annoyance reasserting itself. How did she always end up putting him in situations where he felt ridiculous?

He started to root around in her food receptacle for anything he could pass off as 'pet food' when he heard her "Whoops."

He quickly turned around to see what she'd done now. She was sitting on the floor with shards of glass all around her. She looked up at him with the most innocent look on her face.

He squatted down next her grabbing the piece of glass she'd picked up. He grabbed her hands, stopping her from hurting herself, but he was too late. They both watched mesmerized as the droplet of red welled up on her fingertip. Her lower lip started to tremble.

"What happened?" he asked softly to distract her as he quickly healed the small cut.

"I just wanted to touch it, it was pretty" she trailed off slurring her words.

"Ok, its ok." He said though it really wasn't. At least she'd forgotten about making him feed her stupid imaginary pet.

"C'mon, bed time." He said guiding her away from the glass.

"No, I have to pray first, talk to my Gods."

He growled, she was being so difficult. But he let sit on the floor well away from the shattered glass to pray.

"Rath aren't you going to pray with me?"

He looked up at her, really just wishing she would go to sleep and stop causing him trouble. "Dear Gods, I pray that you give me the strength to keep from strangling Q."

His sarcastic tone was wasted on her so he merely went back to cleaning up the mess she'd made while keeping one eye on her.

"My Gods I'm sorry I got all fuzzy, it was an accident. I pray that you protect our people and most especially Rath. I pray that you hold him close, keep him safe and grant him the happiness he'd lived so long without."

Rath stopped listening as he abruptly felt his eyes darken at her words. Nobody he knew of had ever asked for his happiness before. He got rid of the last of the broken glass in a futile effort to distance himself from his emotions.

"I'm done." She announced to him.

He turned to her, his control and mask firmly back in place. "Bed time."

She nodded giving a very feline yawn. Still clutching her doll he helped her climb into bed, he didn't bother worrying about changing her into pjs. He tucked her in gently, getting her drunk self settled.

Unable to resist temptation he climbed up on her bed next to her on top of the covers. He lay down on his back looking up at the stars she'd had painted on her ceiling.

"What are you doing?" she sleepily queried, her eyes already drooping shut.

"Making sure you don't cause any more trouble."

His response seemed to please her because she curled up against him, making him her new pillow.

"Raath?"

"Hmm" he replied thinking of how he could have her curl up against him every night and never get tired of it.

"I love you." She told him sleepily.

Shocked he looked down at her, but she was already asleep. He gently pushed hair out of her eyes as her words echoed through him.

It was the first time she'd said it and it came as a shock. He'd been pretending, fooling himself. Thinking that if he didn't acknowledge the l word or thinking about it that it wouldn't happen to him. Wouldn't touch him, wouldn't change his fragile relationship with her. But it had touched him and watching her sleep he realized it had touched both of them.

He couldn't pretend it was a game, a light affair, anymore. This was serious, with serious consequences. And he was totally and completely serious about her, about courting her, he wanted to make her his wife but knew he couldn't. He knew in that moment that he could never leave her, oh he might try but he'd come back. She'd taken his heart with her odd innocent, lonely ways and now he was her prisoner.

Eventually he fell asleep still thinking of how she'd irrevocably changed things between them and probably wouldn't remember come morning.

He was abruptly shaken awake.

"You have to go. Now." The voice was urgent and it stirred the last vestiges of sleepiness from Rath.

He looked up, it was Arhal, the Oracle. Still confused, he queried "What's going on?"

"The First Order heard she was ill so they're coming to check on her. If they find you here…" he visibly shuddered.

Rath didn't need to be told what would happen, even though they didn't do anything he would still be in a lot of trouble and she… she would be in a lot more.

As quickly, but as gently, as he could he eased her off of him, not disturbing her sleep. "We didn't do anything."

The Oracle smiled, "I know, but we both know it won't matter. Now go, they're almost here."

Arhal handed him his shoes. Rath interrupted, "What about-"

"I'll handle it." He was cut off.

With one last longing look at her Rath climbed silently out the window clutching his shoes and dropping soundlessly into the bushes.

He'd been careless, cut it close, and had to rely on someone else to keep their relationship hidden. Cut it too close and it had almost ruined everything.

He would have to be more careful or pay the price.

……………………

Maria's head ached, it pounded and swirled. She just wanted to lie down and curl up in a ball until it was all over.

She curled closer to Michael in her sleep, hoping his presence would dull the pain. It didn't work so she took to walking the darkness that had engulfed her mind.

She wandered, avoiding the sharp corners. She heard a voice call her name, She spun, feeling threatened. An attractive man melted out of the darkness.

"Hello, Maria." He said in a deep baritone.

"Hi." She managed while backing away.

He smiled at her, "There's no need to be afraid of me."

"You actually expect me to believe that?"

He laughed, "Oh you were always so blunt."

Then he stopped "But then you were always so careless too."

She stilled, fascinated though indignant. "I'm not careless."

"Oh really? Lets look at all the bad situations you've gotten yourself into. Letting strange men in your house twice, wandering around alone defying his orders."

She was silent, they both know 'he' was. He gave her another brilliant smile. "But that's not new to you either. Neither is putting him in danger, letting him fight your battles."

Red bloomed on her cheeks, "I fight my own battles."

"Do you now? Who's going to face Fonbar when he shows up to claim you?"

"I will" Maria proclaimed bravely.

He gave a genuine laugh. "And you think he'd let you do that? Let's be realistic darling, he'll fight for you. Fight a fully trained elite Antarian solider. Oh you think he's strong because he's got Rath living inside, but he's still got a human body and limitations. Think he really stands a chance?"

Defiance and denial crowded her mind, "I won't let him get hurt."

"Just like you didn't hurt him today, just like you didn't let Alex or Kyle get hurt."

She was quiet for a time, thinking about the undeniable truth of his words.

"You hurt him last time, he almost died because of you, fighting for you."

"No." She was trying to deny this stranger, deny the truth of his words.

"Yes, he survived, barely. But so many others didn't."

"No!" Rath was indestructible, he couldn't be hurt. Especially not for someone as worthless as her.

Her companion sighed, "I think its time for a trip down memory lane for the both of us."

Before she could utter a word she was swept away.

She was running through the woods desperately upset. She was furious with Rath, he'd been treating her like a child, like his property.

He'd drug her away form camp after the battle and yelled at her. Then he'd banished her, told her to go back to the palace because she was a 'liability'.

It hurt, it hurt her more than anything she'd ever felt before did. All because Rath couldn't bear to feel weak. Well she wouldn't let him see how weak he'd made her feel. She she'd left, run away into the woods in a fit of emotion.

And now she was lost. Lost in the woods with an opposing army somewhere in the immediate area. She wasn't particularly worried about the other army, her position with the First Order protected her.

She was more worried about the bugs, nothing protected her from them. And she hated bugs, absolutely detested their many legs and nasty biting habits.

She scowled as she batted at an offending bug. Then she heard noises coming her way, "Q? Where are you?"

IT was Rath, he'd followed her. She scowled and started running again. She didn't want to see him, not now, probably not ever. She was making a lot of noise but she didn't care.

Someone dropped out of a tree directly in front of her.

She collided with him screaming in her startlement.

He didn't fall, steadying them both automatically. She looked up, into his face, he was furious.

She jerked forward then back again. He was shaking her like an unruly child. She could hear Rath yelling at her but couldn't grasp the words, through all the shaking he was doing.

Abruptly all of the movement stopped but he still gripped her shoulders painfully tight. His control had snapped back in place.

"Let go of me" she hated the way her voice shook.

He let go of her, looking like an impassive statue. She'd learned that when he was like this, completely shut down, that he was at his most emotional and most dangerous.

"What were you thinking?" His voice hard, the words shot out like dangerous icy bullets.

She turned away form his icy glare rubbing her shoulders where he'd shaken her. "You told me to leave."

"Go back to the palace does not mean run blindly into the woods, Qaelia."

Q winced, he never used her full name unless he was way past angry. But she wouldn't cave to him, she turned back to face him.

She opened her mouth to speak but he cut her off his voice chilled. "I'm supposed to protect you and you disobeyed me."

"Would you listen to yourself, Rath? 'You disobeyed me' blah. I'm not in your army, I don't have to take your orders."

His stare froze the words in her throat. She realized she was afraid of him. She could deal with an angry, emotional Rath but not this icy over-controlled stranger.

"You could have been killed or worse-" he cut himself off in a strangled tone, turning away, the control was gone. Broken, and now his violent raging emotions were shining through.

"Or worse" a voice echoed from the bushed around them. Q heard the accompanying chuckles completely surrounding them.

She felt fear curl her stomach as figures emerged from the shadows. Rath cursed and shot her one unreadable look that said so much. "Run."

She shook her head violently, she was to scared to run, even more terrified to leave him. She clutched his arm, "No, I'm not leaving you."

He didn't have time to argue with her so he merely pushed her behind him, opening himself to the power.

Turning back to the waiting leader of the force that surrounded him he gave a grim smile. He was in his element, untouchable, and full of power. "Let her go, can't you see she's one of the Chosen? She has no business watching a battle."

IT was true, though she often saw the aftermath of battles, singing for the fallen souls, she was always safe in a tent somewhere away from the actual fighting.

She looked at Rath closely, he was coiled ready to fight. He was cocky, sure of himself in a way she'd only seen glimpses of before. The ruthlessness that he hid from her was there in all its glory. He wanted this, wanted this fight wanted an outlet to release his fury. Fury she had caused with her stupidity.

The other smiled, "Then she shouldn't have come."

Rath snarled and started to unleash the power he'd coiled in himself but stopped when a powder was thrown in the air.

Q choked, the powder burned her lungs, along with everyone else in the small clearing. What was the powder?

Looking at Rath's frustrated face and empty hand, his power gone she was even more confused.

"Deru powder." He snarled.

"Of course, we had to cut you off from the power. Otherwise we stood no chance. So now it's a physical fight." He laughed and Q looked worriedly around at the 16 men. One Rath versus 16 men, that wasn't fair-

Before she could finish her thought Rath had launched himself at the nearest opponent.

The man was dead in a matter of seconds, he'd stood no chance with the element of surprise. She watched horrified as he fell to the ground, his soul already gone as Rath viciously slit another man's throat.

She felt herself gag as the others responded surrounding Rath. He fought them with a skill that was obviously far superior but even his skill couldn't handle 14 men at once.

She watched partly in a stupor as 3 men fell away from a single stroke of his blade. Then she heard his gasp of pain as a knife found his gut.

Hearing his pain stirred her, woke a fury n her that she hadn't known existed. With a battle cry of her own she jumped on the nearest man's back, raking her nails down his face.

She felt a surge of triumph at his screams of pain.

Then he grabbed her wrist, flipper off in one painful motion. She felt her wrist snap in two, ass well as the bone in her upper arm from the torque of her flip. She landed hard on her back and lay still for several moments dazed by the pain. She'd never really felt pain before, a few scraped knees and bruises here and there. But never this burning sensation that ate at her and went on and on.

Dazed, she watched Rath's arm reach out and snap his neck. Another man cracked a staff over Rath's back, she heard a horrible shattering noise. She pulled herself up as he crumpled, fear surging in her heart. He'd been badly hurt, his back probably broken.

There were still 4 men alive so she frantically looked for a weapon on autopilot. Rath was still on the ground and she had to protect him. She felt like she had no control over her mind or body, she was running on instinct and autopilot.

She grabbed a large branch off the ground, swinging it with all of her strength into the nearest man. He fell but as he went down he cut Rath badly. Rath used his own blade to kill him.

Rath distracted her, he was bleeding heavily with at least one obvious broken bone but was still fighting. It amazed her, he amazed her.

She was grabbed roughly from behind and started to flail wildly. The man who had her decided to try and run away using her as a hostage for his safety. She started to panic as he began to move away still holding her. She heard to screams behind her and then felt weight hitting them from behind. The impact sent her face first into the ground with her assailant and Rath both on top of her.

Q felt the man on top of her shudder as he died, the impact of the blade that had been shoved through his back. She lay on the ground for a minute underneath the dead man, trembling barely hanging on to her grasp of reality and hold on control.

Rath pulled the body off of her and she rolled over looking up at him. He was badly beaten, blood dripping off of him from it seemed like everywhere.

The sun was behind him, casting his face in shadow, but she was the blood and sweat that framed his black eyes. She saw his intense relief that she was ok. Then he swayed, dropped the knife and crumpled.

Quickly fearing the worse she scrabbled to her knees next to him, he looked up at her through a pain filled gaze.

"I love you." He sputtered out coughing up blood. Before she could react he passed out from the pain.

It hurt to hear him say those words for the first time. It stabbed her in the heart because she loved him too, soo much. So overwhelmingly much that it was all she really had. It hurt because it terrified her that it would be the last thing she ever heard him say.

"Help" she screamed it over and over, frantically as she tried to stop the blood flow.

No one came.

At first everything threatened to overwhelm her. Rath was badly hurt, probably dying and she no way to help him. Shaking she checked his pulse, weak and erratic.

With the feel of his weak pulse beneath her fingers something changed. Not alot but she felt icy control seeping in, just enough that she could handle the situation without breaking down. He was hurt so badly, she noted, clinically taking in all the injuries.

She looked around, she was in a clearing full of corpses and death. She assessed the situation, she had no gift, no power to heal and no knowledge of how to start. The only thing she had was her voice.

So she began a monologue, talking to him, drifting into song now and then in an effort to bind him to life. She had no idea what she was saying, what words were coming out in the lilting tones he'd once admitted he liked, and she didn't really care.

Looking down at all the blood soaking the ground she reached into her mind. She remembered dimly helping out with the wounded when she was younger.

She had to stop the bleeding, crawling to the nearest man she ripped his shirt off with shaking hands. Determined she tore it into strips, ignoring the searing pain of her broken arm. She bound the biggest wounds as tightly as she could praying it would be enough.

He groaned but did not wake still in pain's grasp. She started singing him a lullaby, one of the oldest on Antar and gently smoothed his face until the intense grimace of pain lessened.

A twig cracked and she jumped, looking around she found nobody there. They couldn't stay here, she realized. She couldn't keep him safe in an exposed clearing, safe from men or the elements. She also didn't want the angry souls he'd killed to try and draw his soul into death with them.

She'd seen a cave not far from where they were. Slowly, painfully, one step at a time she drug him towards it. With each pull of his head weight her arm and shoulder screamed in protest, fiery needles of pain stabbing at her.

Her hair, her clothes, everything got tangled in the bushes and thorns. She didn't care, she just kept ripping through it.

After what seemed like forever her shoulder flared in an abrupt unending pain as it was pulled out its socket.

Somehow she kept herself from screaming from the pain, and from passing out. She threw herself into the getting him the last few feet to the cave.

"See, Rath, there it is, were almost there. I said I'd keep you safe." She babbled to him, mindlessly focusing on keeping her voice soothing and compelling.

She laid him in the cave and looked at the sky, it had taken her over 2 hours to get him there and now it was almost dark. The air was beginning to freeze and night was coming. Shivering she went back to him.

He was ghastly pale, sweating and had bled through his bandages. All of the jerky movement had kept his wounds open. Singing softly she touched his forehead, he was cold.

She had no idea how to make fire so she pulled off her dress, leaving the slip she wore underneath it on. She made it into a blanket for him, covering his huge frame as best she could. She was freezing, her breath visible in the night air, but it didn't matter. She had to keep Rath warm, he was all that mattered.

Futilely she tried to start a fire, still singing to him. It was no use, she had no power to start it and no clue of how to do it manually.

He groaned and desperately she crawled over to him, she propped his head up in her lap, "Rath?"

Please don't let this be a goodbye, she thought. He couldn't die. The Oracle had told her he would die but then the Gods gave them the plant. Her narka had bloomed, he was supposed to be safe. She wanted more than anything to see if it still bloomed.

He groaned again and she focused on him as not to let her fear overwhelm her. He eyes fluttered open, filled with intense, unending pain, he croaked, "water"

She fumbled for his canteen, gentling holding it to his lips, letting it trickle down his throat.

He passed out again and so it went through the next two days. She constantly sang to him or desperately begged him to live. She didn't sleep, eat or drink, saving their meager supplies for him. Occasionally he woke for a few seconds, she would give him water and then he would fall back into his pain filled world.

The memory abruptly switched viewpoints.

They were starting to lose hope, there had been no sign of the Commander or the Siren for two days. Nothing since they found the slaughtered group of Skylons the day before. They'd fought the Skylon rebels again but without the Commander there they'd had to retreat, losing many men. It had been a disaster.

He and his partner on the search were walking when D'ton roused him from his thoughts. "Kivar. I see a cave, let's check it."

He nodded grimly, not expecting to find anything, as they marched through the snow. Looking into the cave he sighed in relief and surprise. There was the Commander looking horrible, unconscious but obviously alive. The girl was in a slip, obviously freezing, with Rath's head in her lap. She was checking his temperature singing him a lullaby in her hoarse voice.

She looked up at them, wide eyed and terrified, twigs were sticking out of her hair and blood was spattered over her face and bare arms. She looked horrible, gaunt, pale and with an obviously dislocated shoulder. She was a far cry from what she'd been, The Siren's lovely voice was no more. Last time he'd seen her she had been lovely, if a bit gaunt looking from not eating. His sources had informed him that she had been in a funk over a fight with Rath.

"Holy Granolith." He exhaled, walking in squatting down next to the General.

"Where's the fire?" D'ton asked, looking around in disbelief.

She was stroking the Commander's hair absently, her eyes were black so full of emotions that it was painful to look at her. "I couldn't make one."

"What? Why didn't you use your power?"

She looked down, back at the Commander, merely repeating what she'd said. "I couldn't make one."

Kivar watched her for a second, it was painfully obvious how she felt about the General. It just confirmed what Vilandra had told him.

He lifted the Commander up, suddenly grasping the impact of her words. She had no powers. This blessed child was powerless, only extraordinary in her voice. Her voice that was now hoarse, he almost smiled. This was definitely information he could use.

He carried Rath out to the waiting xehg, his mind already filling with plans. Dimly he heard D'ton interrogating the girl about why she hadn't healed him.

He put Rath into the back seat, putting a blanket over his limp form. Silently he handed the trembling Siren a blanket. She looked at it longingly for a second before tightly tucking it around Rath so that he had two blankets. This time he let his smile show, she would be ridiculously easy to break when the time came.

D'ton sighed and found another blanket and handed it to her as Kivar started the xehg. She was curled up on the floor in the back, still watching the General anxiously.

She started to tuck it around the Commander but D'ton stopped her, "He's warm enough, use the blanket."

D'ton helped her wrap it around herself and Kivar got the nasty feeling that she couldn't feel the cold anymore, she barely had control over her extremities. Driving as fast he could they got to the base in record time and out came the healers all in a flurry, pulling them both out.

He followed idly into the tent and watched her closely. She was anxiously watching them work on Rath. He felt curiously sympathetic to this child. A healer approached her but she waved him away.

"Ma'am." The healer insisted.

"No, you have to heal him first!" she was insistent, her voice cracking.

"There's enough healers working on the General."

"No, no no. He's hurt and you have to fix him." She snapped, backing away. She was getting frantic, her eyes black and glittering oddly in the light. Her devotion was almost painful to watch because she so obviously needed the medical help.

The healer reached for her again but she slapped his hands away screaming at him. "NO.'

The tent flap flew open and the Oracle strode in. He took in the scene, not looking surprised at gaunt look of the Siren or the blood spattered all over her. She had backed herself into a corner, and it was obvious that everything that had happened was starting to hit her. She was about to break down.

The Oracle looked at Kivar, "So you found them."

Kivar nodded, unsettled. He had a nasty feeling the man knew all about his ambitions for the throne. The Oracle's all seeing eyes turned back to the Siren who'd just screamed no in her hoarse voice right in the healer's face. He sighed and walked over to her, motioning the healer away.

"Q, you have to let them tend to you. You've caught a cold and the fever is making you irrational."

"No, he needs all the healers." She croaked stubbornly wringing her hands.

The Oracle spared a glance for Rath surrounded by healers, each fixing an individual would. He looked at the sight for a long moment before finally turning back to her. "He'll be just fine. I promise."

"No." She was still adamant, though obviously tiring. The lack of sleep and nourishment taking it's toll on her weak frame. She looked about to collapse.

The Oracle pushed her in a chair, pulling up a seat next to her. "Ok, ok. Why don't you tell me what happened?"

Kivar snorted, it was obvious the Oracle already knew exactly what had happened. A moan issued from the other side of the room. The girl tried to stand to go to Rath, but the Oracle calmly, but firmly, pressed her back into her chair.

She was trembling now in her blanket, her eyes anxiously watching the other side of the room. The Oracle reached out smoothing her hair, removing a lone twig. "Rath told me I had to leave so I left without guards and I got lost. He found me and we got ambushed by a group of Skylons.."

Kivar grabbed a skies of hot milk, taking it over to them so he could hear better. He wanted to know exactly how they'd gotten the jump on Rath. He handed the Oracle the skies and he made her take a few sips of the hot beverage. "What happened next?"

"He told them to let me go because I'm Chosen. They refused and threw a powder in the air."

She paused coughing, then a concentrated look passed over her face. "Rath called it deru powder, it took everyone's powers away. They said they had to have it so that they could have a chance against him."

Kivar was outraged, it was such an underhand move that it was unheard of. But he was also impressed, he'd have to remember it in case he ever needed to use it. All is fair in love and war, he reasoned.

The Oracle muttered darkly, "I bet they did. Do you know how many there were, pet?"

"16. Rath… Rath killed them all." She looked as though she would be sick at the memory. Battle was no place for women, especially battles where Rath was involved.

The Oracle stroked her hair again, trying to dispel the deeply disturbed look she wore. "He had to, pet. Now how did you hurt your arm?"

If possible she looked even more disturbed. "They stabbed Rath so I …. I jumped on one of their backs and scratched his face. He threw me off hurting my arm. I hit another one with a branch. Then my shoulder got hurt dragging Rath to the cave."

Kivar and the Oracle were both stunned, she'd attacked someone? This meek, weak little creature that a child could take advantage of had jumped on a soldier's back. Then drug a man more than twice her body weight with a broken arm. Amazing.

"You were very brave" the Oracle reassured her.

She nodded like a lost child then sneezed violently. "I took him to the cave and tried to take care of him. I couldn't make fire so I made him a blanket so he wouldn't get cold and I didn't sleep or anything. Just took care of him…"

She sounded like she was terrified she'd done something wrong. Kivar stared at her, this child had been through so much. Seen what she never should have. He sighed, knowing he would have to put her through much worse to see his goals realized.

Suddenly the Oracle's angry eyes met his, as though he could hear his thoughts. Perhaps he could. Kivar shrugged, the Oracle couldn't interfere so it didn't really matter. He gave him a smile.

They were done with Rath, well as done as they could be in one day. He was sleeping peacefully, drugged so that he wouldn't feel the pain.

After assuring the Siren that he was all done and she'd examined him she finally let them tend to her. She'd caught a fever from being exposed to the elements without protection. In a way she was in more danger than Rath because they could heal physical wounds easier than fevers. Fevers were harder to manage, too widespread for brute strength to handle. Fevers were what killed in their society.

She screamed as they relocated her shoulder, then abruptly passed out from the pain.

Her scream roused Rath.

"Q?" he queried in a sleep slurred voice. He tried to sit up looking around frantically, but Kivar held him firmly down.

"She's fine, your both fine."

Extreme relief passed over his features before could hide it. Kivar wondered how Isabel could stand being engaged to a man who felt he needed to keep everything bottled up inside. To cover his lapse he asked, "Why did she scream?"

Kivar pointed at her still form on the cot a few feet away, "They had to relocate her shoulder. She passed out, right after."

Rath grimaced at the thought of her being in pain. The drugs had taken away some of his control, letting his true feelings show through instead of an impassive mask.

"What happened after the attack?"

"She drug you to a cave, incidentally dislocating her shoulder, then nursed you for two days until we found you. She had you bandaged up, singing to you with her dress as a blanket."

Alarm showed in his eyes, the rest of his face remaining impassive as he looked at her. "I vaguely remember hearing her singing. Did she catch a fever?"

He nodded.

The General gave a menacing growl that caused a healer working on her to look up in alarm. "Stupid girl, didn't she realize my uniform has built in heating?"

"Apparently not, she sat in her slip for two days trying to make a fire to get you warm. Incidentally fire making is beyond her, but she did manage to get a pile of sticks."

He closed his eyes in pain, "Will she be all right?"

"She'll be fine, the healers are sure of it. Just fix her broken arm, some bandages for her hands and bed rest."

The healers had said no such thing, but Rath needed reassurance. He loved the child and Kivar would foster and reassure that love so that when the time came he could use it to destroy him.

………………….

Maria was back in the darkness with she now knew was Kivar. She was distraught by what she'd seen, what she'd done.

He looked at her with a disarmingly charismatic smile. "And the truth comes out."

She sighed, "So it does."

Kivar gave her an odd look. "So will you let him get hurt all over again?"

She wasn't fooled, he was manipulating her emotions. Because of this she merely gave him a perfunctory smile. "Of course not."

He smiled in obvious relief. "I hope you'll consider the deal Nicholas offered you when you look at your options."

She smiled, could he be more obvious? "Of course, now if you don't mind I'd like you to leave."

He bowed, "Of course, blessed one."

He disappeared into the shadows and Maria walked out of the darkness back to her own mind. But what he'd shown her had sparked her own memory.

She was sitting in her sitting room when she heard a knock at the door. Curious she quickly opened the door.

It was the Queen, smiling brightly at her, "May I come in?"

"Of course, Your Highness." She replied leading her into the sitting room. As the Queen settled herself in Q poured her a cup of mukleh.

Handing it to her, the Queen gave her a warm smile, "Thanks, but please call me Tav. How many times do I have to tell you?"

Smiled her agreement, settling herself back in.

"How are you feeling?" Tav queried.

"Good, much better now."

The Queen delicately put her cup down on the saucer. "Rath returns to the palace tonight."

Q felt as though she'd been punched in the stomach. With trembling hands she placed her own cup on its saucer. She hadn't seen him since he'd had healers saving his life. And she'd been obscenely grateful, she was so afraid of his what his reactions would be.

"Is he going to kill me?" she asked in a trembling voice.

Tav gave a small laugh, "Of course not. He's already forbidden you form singing laments after battles and I think that's as far as he'll go. Though I'll admit he's not entirely over the incident as his actions in the field show."

"His actions in the field?" she echoed starting to feel sick. She'd seen him in action and it was gruesome, ruthless and terrifying.

Tav's eyes were piercing, "You're afraid of him now."

Q nodded miserably, she couldn't deny it. It changed how she looked at him, now she'd seen his other side. The side he'd been careful not to show her except in glimpses, the side that caused the masses to fear him.

"You should be." Tav murmured to herself then sighed. "Listen to me, Qaelia. You and Rath are friends, yes?"

She nodded, maybe friends wasn't exactly the right word but it would do for the general public.

"Rath doesn't have many friends outside the Royal Four, he's very guarded. I'm guessing you don't either, and friendship matters in this world."

"I know, but how do I get past it? All I can see is how he looked hurt or his face when he was fighting. He was enjoying it, Tav." She was truly distraught.

The Queen gave her a smile full of wisdom, "You enjoy your singing because you're good at it. Rath is good at fighting, it's what he's spent his life doing, training it and living it. For some soldiers it's how they survive, they learn to love the thrill or they go crazy."

Q was fascinated, there was much more to this. "How do you know that?"

Tav looked as though she were remembering something from a long time ago. She gave Q a sad smile. "I'll tell you because I think it can help you get over your fear of Rath. But you must promise not to speak of it to anyone else, most especially Zan."

"Of course, I promise to keep it to myself."

Tav looked relieved. She reached out and grasped Q's hand between her own two.

"I was in a situation much like yours when I was younger. A year or two older than you, it was before I came here. It was back on Kathor, I was out gathering flowers when we were invaded. I heard the bombs and ran and ran into the woods. I got terribly lost and was found by a soldier. He was a Zontu, one of the invaders-"

Q gasped, the Zontu were ruthless, horrible killers and invaders who were famous for taking no prisoners.

Tav squeezed her hand with a smile, "I know. Anyway he protected me, he killed his own men viciously in front of me. I still don't know why he did it, but he did. I was terrified, absolutely frightened of him. He took me to a cave for the rest of the fighting and I started to get sick. I was starting my akino. He took care of me while I was ill and making the connection. He was sweet and I learned to see him for who he was, how he treated me and not what he did or what race he was."

Q felt a secret bond of kinship with the young queen. "You fell in love with him."

She looked far away, "I did. He took me back to my father's court and was named a hero, it helped end the fighting. He became a member of our court and we had an illicit affair. But that's all in the past, shortly after they found out I was sent here."

She looked Q in the eyes, "I'm not telling you to have an affair with Rath. Far from it, it just ends badly. What I am telling you is that you're friends with Rath. That's a type of love, and we love someone we can see past their flaws, past the scary moments and fights with have with them."

Q was quiet for a moment, love. She certainly loved Rath and the way he was when he was with her. How he always called her out on her fears, how he took care of her in his own demanding way. How they constantly argued with no real rancor, how he awkwardly tried to make her feel better after they fought. How whenever he tried to do something sweet it never turned out quite right. How he always said the wrong thing at the wrong moment, and didn't care who he offended. But mainly how he understood her, got what she couldn't say aloud.

Tav was talking again, pulling her out of her thoughts. "And if that doesn't help remember that he fought to protect you. He's fiercely loyal to his friends and would go to any length to keep them safe."

Q smiled at the Queen, squeezing her hands. 'You've been such a big help. You've really helped me put things back in perspective."

The door flew open.

Rath stood there his huge frame silhouetted by the harsh light from the hallway. He was a shadow, darkness his ally. He'd taken the time to shower and shave.

Q once again felt as though she'd been hit, all of the air left her lungs and she found it hard to breathe. She stared at him, unable to look away.

Tav squeezed her hands murmuring a goodbye. She went to the doorway, Rath silently moving out of her way. She said something to him, which he acknowledged with a nod. Then she was gone and they were alone.

He shut the door with a resounding click and turned back towards her. Her heart was beating rapidly as she found herself standing up. Eagerly, anxiously she looked at him.

HE was silently staring back at her, then he must noticed her probing gaze. "I'm not hurt."

She sighed in relief, then busily turned herself to pouring him a drink. Her hands shook violently as she fixed his mukleh, being sure to make it just the way he liked it. Extra spicy.

She gave it to him and hesitated, should she sit down next o him or across from him?

Making up her mind she sat on the edge of the couch next to him but with enough room between them that if he decided to shake her again she would have some sort of warning.

She watched him drink, for the first time she noticed a small scar behind his ear. It sparked her guilt all over again.

"I'm sorry." She blurted.

He set his cup down slowly turning to her, his face was a mask. "It wasn't your fault. I mistreated you, pushed you away into leaving. You ran and then I was so angry that I wasn't aware, I forgot the most basic rule of battle. Know your surroundings."

He wasn't mad at her and she was relieved, but quickly her relief turned to concern. He couldn't blame himself for what happened, it wasn't his fault.

"Don't blame yourself, Rath. You couldn't have known I'd run into a group of Skylons."

He grasped her hands, "My job is to protect you, I failed. You were hurt, you had to protect yourself. By the Holy Granolith you had to protect me."

"Your job, Rath, is to protect our nation. To fight to lead the armies. Not me, I'm just a hobby."

She smiled earnestly at him, 'Besides your always telling me that I need to know how to protect myself."

His eyes were darkening slowly, "You should know, yes, but use it? No. Some people shouldn't have to fight."

She could see him receding before her eyes. See him getting ready to disengage himself from her forever, to end it. Her chest tightened panic setting in, she couldn't let him do this. Wouldn't let him stomp out their growing romance, she was dead without him. She'd been nothing more than a shell a few weeks ago as she waited for her narka to bloom. She couldn't go back to that, couldn't go back to what she was before him either.

"I love you." She knew she sounded desperate but didn't care.

He was torn, she could read the indecision in his eyes. Torn between duty and desire. His voice though remained steady. "No, you don't. I'm a killer, Q. You've said it yourself, a killer and I can't protect you-"

He stopped abruptly, cutting himself off.

She smiled at him, even though it broke her heart, reaching for his cheek. "You're a solider, but that's not all you are. It's not all you have to be, you can be with me and a soldier."

"Don't say things like that."

She was starting to get angry with him, why couldn't he see that he deserved to be happy.

"Why? Because it makes sense, because its not all black and white anymore? This isn't all about you, Rath. It's not all about making you feel noble and strong. This affects me too.."

His own anger was rising to her words, "It's not about me, Q. It's never been about me, this is about you. It's always been about you, don't you see? Do you have any idea how frantic I was when I got back to camp after my rounds to find you gone, no word, and no guards? By the Gods I was terrified-"

He paused, in a calmer voice, "I cant.. I can't live like this."

She looked at him, her feelings roiling around her. He was really going to leave her. She was devastated but she had to try, "I cant live without you."

She was choking it out, word by word, past the emotional block in her throat.

"I'm dead without you, when I was waiting for the narka to bloom I was dead. I stared at walls, I didn't talk. I can't live like that, I can't go back to being alone. You don't have to do this…"

He rubbed his face, "I can't do both."

She exploded at him, "Why won't you let yourself be happy?"

"Because duty comes first, you know that, it always has. I have a destiny and –" he exploded right back.

She cut him off her anguish filling her golden voice, "I'm your destiny, can't you see that? It's never been Vilandra, it's me. The prophecies were wrong…misread. You were never meant for her, you are meant for me. But Zan won't follow my message. So now you're really in a crux, Rath. Duty or destiny."

"I hate this."

She realized something, he really hadn't put two and two together about them. And now part of him would hate her for destiny, for being bound to her without his consent. She sighed, she'd lost the battle.

She looked up startled at the feel of his callused hands on her face. He was staring at her intently, his eyes full of emotions for once. Slowly he started gently tracing her features, running his thumbs over her eyebrows. Softly stroking her cheekbones and gently tracing her lips.

She sat perfectly still through his curiously tender ministrations. His odd gentleness, the look in his eyes that he was trying to memorize her. She knew her eyes were black, felt the tightness in them. It felt like goodbye, it all felt so terribly final. Slowly she met his eyes. They looked at each other in a silence that built and built with the tension of the moment. They looked at each other across conflicting desires and wants, across fears and obligations.

She saw him make decision, the uncertainly leave his eyes. She trembled with anticipation and fear.

He took her hands, opening them. Then in one swift motion he reached up pulling off his dog tags. He dropped them in her hands, letting the warm metal pool in her hands. He'd chosen destiny over duty. Abandoned all that he'd lived for, all that he'd known for her. If she'd had tears she would have cried them.

She stared at the dog tags, at the small ruby red droplets that glistened on them. His blood, from the self-inflicted cut on his wrist, she knew. She looked past that to the inscription, A13. That was all it said, his past, his training; his life emblazoned in 3 regulation figures.

Looking up into his face she deliberately dropped them over her own neck, letting the unfamiliar weight settle in. Taking on his past, making it her responsibility.

She reached out grabbing his wrist, the one he'd unconsciously slit. She cradled it in her lap, wiping away the blood that spilled out. There were scars, faded and new, crisscrossing the tender skin of his wrist.

"This has to stop." She told him, meeting his eyes.

"The past doesn't disappear" he was stubborn, honest.

"Let me make it." She replied, just as stubborn.

He smirked at her, leaning forward and kissing her roughly. She responded to his urgency, her emotions flowing over into the kiss. All the fear and helplessness she'd felt when he'd been hurt, all the uncertainty during their argument.

Roughly, still not breaking the kiss he lifted her into his lap. This was definitely new for her, more intimate. She could feel his desperation against her lips. He moved his lips over her cheek and down her neck. This was definitely very different and the unfamiliar sensation caused her to stiffen.

There was a knock at the door and she scrabbled off of him.

"Come in." she called.

The door opened and Fonbar smiled at her, then he noticed Rath and scowled. "Dinner is ready to be served."

Q nodded, compulsively pulling her hair away from her face in a nervous gesture. His eyes narrowed, "What's that on your neck?"

He hand flew to her neck, she had no idea what was on her neck. She looked impulsively to Rath, maybe he knew. "Nothing."

Fonbar followed her gaze, misinterpreting it. "Did he hurt you?"

She shook her head, violently, but it wasn't enough to stop Rath. He was angry, furious at the accusation. "Go back to the temple, leave the palace."

Before I kill you.

It went unsaid but everyone in the room got the message.

Fonbar looked at her form something, for defense maybe. She didn't do anything and he scowled looking at her. "I see how it is between you tow."

And then he was gone. She looked weakly at Rath, "He knows."

He shook his head, prying her hand away from her neck, "He knows nothing."

He looked at her neck, cursing. "Gods be damned. I shouldn't have done that."

"Done what?" she queried, what was wrong with her neck.

"Marked you. I need to heal it before someone sees."

She scampered away, curious about this mark he'd left. It sounded like he'd done it on purpose. " I want to see it first."

She got to her mirror and pulled her hair away. She looked at the small purplish bruise he'' left, his mark as he'' called it. His mark, she liked the sound of it, the meaning behind it. She beamed at him as he stood behind her in the mirror.

"I like it."

He gave her a half-smile in the mirror, placing his hand over it. "It's got to go."

She shook her head, putting her hand over top of his. "I like it, I'm keeping it."

"You can't 'keep' it, what if somebody sees it? They'll know exactly how you got it."

"So nobody will get to see it but me." She said in a final tone reaching for a scarf that matched her dress. She knew she'd won, in the end he always caved. She expertly tied it around her neck and smiled at him.

"See? All better."

He ignored her, his fingers lifting the chain his dog tags were on around her neck. "You don't have to wear these, they don't bind you."

Her eyes met his in the mirror, she smiled.

"They bind me to you."

……………..

Isabel sat next to Alex on the bed for a long time, just holding his hand. Max told her that Alex was fine, just burned out. He needed some sleep, some time to reboot, and then he would be just fine.

Liz came in the door, "I brought you some dinner."

Isabel smiled, accepting the tray even though she wasn't hungry. Liz meant well, Liz always meant well.

"How are you holding up?" Liz asked.

"Good, tired and disturbed but good."

Liz sat down o the edge of the bed, picking at the comforter. "He's really hung up on Maria isn't he?"

Isabel wanted to reassure her, but she couldn't she was too honest, too worried about it herself. Liz was always worrying about Maria and taking care of her flighty friend.

"Yes, it's…..disturbing."

Liz looked distressed so Isabel tried again. "But he's also terrified of Michael, Rath. And we both know that Michael will always protect Maria."

Liz nodded and made an admission, 'Michael used to scare me too, eventually after I saw him with Maria it stopped. He's really special with her, it's amazing."

Isabel nodded, she knew just what Liz meant.

Liz gave her a tentative smile, "Like Alex is with you."

Isabel was silent, she wasn't sure what to make of it. She had conflicting feelings about Alex, especially now. Now with the memories of Kivar and Nicholas in her mind.

"Maybe." She agreed with Liz.

Liz realized she'd overstepped her boundaries. "I'm sorry I just…with you taking care of him so diligently."

She trailed off and Isabel sighed, placing her hand against her forehead. Her head was really starting to ache, it felt like a migraine was coming on.

"It's ok, Liz. Don't worry about it. I –"

she stopped, the pain was stabbing suddenly. She squeezed her eyes shut, "I'm getting a really bad headache."

"Maybe you should lie down."

Isabel nodded, thinking it was a great idea. "What about your parents?"

Liz smiled, "Tuesday is their bowling night. They won't be back until late."

Isabel nodded again vaguely, she was so tired. Liz took the tray away as Isabel settled herself next to Alex.

She fell asleep into the waiting darkness. The further into the darkness she walked the more the pain lessened.

"Hello, Vilandra." A deep baritone called.

She spun, seeing the attractive man melt out of the darkness. Something in her reacted, stirred at the sight of him.

Kivar.

She knew without being told, exactly who he was. It was hardwired into her, a part of her she couldn't deny.

"Hello" she breathed out.

"It's been a long time, Lonnie." He mirrored coming to put his hands on her shoulders.

She wouldn't fall for this, wouldn't fall for this trap. "Why do you want Maria on Antar?"

He smiled at her, 'She'd help bring peace. So would you, we could rule together. How it was supposed to be."

"Why didn't we?"

He scowled, the grimace marring his beautiful features. "Rath and Zan and the meddlesome girl."

"Maria" she breathed out.

He nodded, "She ruined things with Rath, made us change our plans."

"Maria's always had a way of affecting Michael." Isabel commented.

"And Rath. She took Rath from you just as she's stealing Michael away now."

"No, she's not." Isabel denied, forgetting her earlier feelings of the same thing happening.

Kivar wrapped his arms around her waist from behind. "When's the last time you and Michael had a civil conversation?"

Isabel kept her mouth shut, not for a long time. She wasn't sure the last time they'd had a civil conversation let alone a good time. Last time he yelled at her, kicking her out of his apartment and the time before that he almost killed her.

"Not recently I take it. Let me show you how it was last time."

Isabel didn't really have a choice, she let him spirit her into the past.

She was putting the final touches on her appearance. She had to look beautiful today. It was a public appearance for the masses, to show a united front, her and Rath seemingly in love. The eyes would follow her every move, her every gesture and she wanted to look perfect.

A knock on the door, Rath was actually on time for once. She got up with one last glance at herself and opened it, stepping out into the hallway with him. She looked at him, he hadn't even tried to do anything with his hair.

"Hey." It was all he said but it conveyed so much. That he didn't want to do this, that he found it stupid and distasteful, that he wished he was anywhere but here.

"Hey," she replied reaching up and attempting to pat his hair down in some semblance of order.

He scowled at her, moving away. He hated people touching his hair. "Don't touch the goods."

She laughed as they started to walk, "If you'd done something with it I wouldn't have to fix it."

He pinched her on the arm, just like he'd done when they were kids. Before everything got so complicated and they got trapped in an engagement they didn't want.

She smiled at him, she knew she made a beautiful picture, but it didn't seem to affect him at all. In a way it hurt her, he shouldn't be immune to her charms. She tried again, "How do I look?"

He gave her a perfunctory glance, "Like a princess?"

At least he'd tried, she thought. It was somewhat of an improvement. "Good, so who's been teaching you manners?"

Something changed, a minuscule shift in his eyes. "Zan put me on my best behavior."

His lie was smooth, but she knew the truth. Of course he didn't know she knew, so she merely accepted the lie. Vilandra briefly wondered if she'd be at the appearance, and decided she would. She'd probably be singing or something.

She hoped Kivar was there.

Rath glanced at her finger, "Nice rock, Lonnie."

She looked at the ring he'd 'given' her. The ring she'd picked out and the treasury had paid for, the ring he'd had nothing to do with. Just like he had nothing to do with the sham of an engagement they were in.

She winked at him, "You did good."

He smirked at her. They both knew the truth, he couldn't tell a shiny piece of glass from a precious stone if he tried.

She felt like rattling his cage for the smirk, "So are you going to kiss me in public like a good fiancée?"

His jaw tightened, barely noticeable unless you knew where to look. He didn't want to, she knew, but she didn't care. It was all about looks and appearances and she wouldn't have Rath making her look bad.

"We'll see." Was all he said.

They heard yelling coming from up ahead, but kept at their pace. Vilandra never hurried anywhere, but all the same she was curious and strained her ears.

"I won't do it! You can't make me." She'd recognize that voice anywhere, the fluid lilting tones that made even her harsh refusal like bells. The Siren.

Rath tried to speed them up, but she hung onto his arm. She wouldn't be hurried, especially not for his woman.

"You're singing the invocation. That's final." Another recognizable voice, the Granal, head of the First Order of the Granolith.

"No, I will not introduce them. It goes against everything the Gods sent in my message, I will not sing that stupid wrong prophecy for appearances sake."

Didn't she know it was all about appearances? Besides what was she talking about, a wrong prophecy. The prophecies were all right, and the silly twit hadn't even delivered her message yet or Vilandra would have heard about it.

They came around the bend in the hallway, they could see them now. She was wearing the ceremonial garb with her face painted with the religious symbols in red. An impressive picture to match the voice. The Granal wore his usual imposing robes, looking furious with her.

"You will do what I say.-"

She cut him off, the lilting tones of her voice outraged. "You wouldn't treat the other Chosen like this."

He looked like he was going to hit her. "The other Chosen are actually special. They actually have gifts and messages we can work with. You're worthless and if you value anything you'll sing like a good girl."

Vilandra could see her blush even through the paint that covered her face from all the way down the hallway. She hadn't known she was giftless, what a horrible thing to be. Especially if she was supposedly blessed. She glanced over at Rath to see how he was taking this, his face was a mask.

His eyes were icy, and his jaw had that tiny tick that meant he was on full alert. Dangerous. He was unconsciously reacting to the threat. Vilandra clutched his arm tighter, she couldn't have him do anything stupid to ruin relations with the First Order. Or make her look bad.

"NO." the small girl looked up defiantly into the Granal's face.

Something in the religious leader snapped and he backhanded her.

Vilandra gasped, letting Rath go. He'd hit her. He'd actually hit her. You weren't supposed to touch the Chosen, but he'd hit her. It didn't matter that he could do whatever he wanted.

She hurried forward, wanting to make sure Qaelia was all right but Rath was already there. The Granal had his hand on the wall next to head, preventing escape. He was talking to her in a low growl, too low to be heard from where she stood.

She watched, entranced as Rath calmly walked up and pulled his arm away from the wall, breaking it. She heard the crack of the bones separating as she hurried.

Vilandra looked at Rath's face, he was livid. He was absolutely furious, he couldn't stand people hitting women. Didn't think it was something anyone should do and it showed. His distaste oozed off of him.

"What are you doing?" It was an icy controlled murmur.

Vilandra slipped up, looking at Qaelia. She was looking at the ground, humiliation evident on her face. She'd been demeaned and humiliated and it had struck her.

The Granal was equally as furious, clutching his arm. "Doing what needs to be done."

"We don't hit women in this palace." Vilandra shivered at Rath's tone.

The Granal gave him a horrible smile, "She's a child, and an unruly one at that. So she'll be treated as such. This doesn't concern you, General."

He'd made it a derogatory term, as if leading the armies was something unpure.

Vilandra looked at the Siren again, she was being oddly quiet. The abasement colored her cheeks as she furiously avoided everyone's eyes.

Rath stepped in front of her, "She's under my protection."

"Pity, your protection doesn't extend to the First Order. You may have taken her on, but she falls under my territory and as such you don't matter."

Vilandra looked into Rath's face, it was empty. Completely empty, the small tick gone. It meant he was about to do something emotional, something completely rash and stupid. Something that would ruin their tenuous relationship with the First Order.

She stepped forward to do something but before she could the Siren dropped to her knees, in the posture of servitude. Stepping forward like a sacrificial lamb, trying for peace.

The girl's head was bowed but everyone could still see the harsh outline of a hand on her face. Her voice was soft, but it booked no argument. "I'll sing."

The Granal smiled, thinking he'd won. Not realizing she'd merely caved. "Good, now go get your paint fixed."

She rose gracefully, studiously avoiding Rath's searching gaze. Her eyes landed on Vilandra's for a second and she saw the girl's disgrace, humiliation, bitterness and sadness. Then the girl drifted away down the hall, catastrophe avoided.

The Granal gave them a sardonic bow, locking eyes with Rath one last time and followed her.

Vilandra sighed, Rath hadn't done anything supremely stupid, perhaps only let on that he felt more for the Siren than propriety said he should. She took his arm again, he was still furious.

"You'll scare everyone with that face." She murmured soothingly.

He scowled at her, "He hit her."

"I'm aware of that, but like he said it isn't our business."

He stopped walking and turned to look at her, "Are you saying you don't care? Because it isn't 'our business' it doesn't matter if someone gets hurt?"

She sighed, he was touchy. "No, I'm saying that we can't afford to have ill relations with the First Order right now. How they chose to treat their blessed ones is something we can't bear to interfere with. I feel for the girl, but she has her duties, just like the rest of us."

"Duty." He spat it out.

Before she could reply they were at the front of the palace, their public appearance. She managed one last hiss, "Smile."

He ignored her, but managed to look less threatening. She looked out at the cheering crowd, loving the feeling of their eyes on her.

She smiled, waving softly at a little girl who was peeking out at her from behind her mother's skirts. She was in her element, her appearance flawless, everyone watching her every move. It felt amazing.

Rath guided her over to their seats, and she sat gracefully. Letting her hand linger on his arm, appearance was everything and they had to appear as the perfect couple.

The Siren was brought out to the podium, she began to sing. The prophecies about their wedding, but Vilandra didn't bother to listen. She'd heard it all before.

The girl's voice was beautiful but it lacked her usual happy emotions. It was obvious it was all duty today, no laughter lurked in the melody of the song. Instead a hint of bitterness lingered.

Vilandra looked over at Rath, letting a loving adoring look grace her features. He was staring at the girl, enraptured. Not obviously of course, that wasn't his style, but the intensity of his gaze was there all the same.

Staring at her like that in front of all these people, never mind they were staring at her too and not looking at Rath. It infuriated her, it had to be so obvious to anyone who looked close enough that he wasn't focused on Vilandra. On his fiancée, that he was eyeing someone else, someone he shouldn't ever eye.

Quickly she looked around to see if anyone had noticed, her eyes met the Granal's. He was staring directly at them.

Frack.

She pinched Rath on the arm and he turned to her, the intensity of his gaze lingering for a moment. She smiled at him, leaning over to give him a small kiss.

He let her, though he didn't respond. Appearance was everything right now.

The Siren was leaving, she'd obviously seen the kiss but it didn't matter to Vilandra. Rath was hers, bound to her by prophecy by engagement.

Rath's eyes followed her the whole time, though she never once turned to look at them. Her face was as much of a mask as she could make it, as she glided regally by.

Zan got up and talked about how well Antar was doing and how he loved his subjects and put their interests first. Vilandra tuned him out, scanning the crowd for Kivar.

Finally she found him, just before it was time for them to mingle. She gave him a brilliant smile as she and Rath stood, making their way down into the crowd.

A small girl gave her flowers and Vilandra smiled at her, "Thank you, what's your name?"

The girl meekly hid behind her mother's skirts. She smiled at her again, she'd always loved children.

They floated around, her hanging on to Rath's arm, looking as though she adored him. They talked to various people, listening to what they had to say and slowly she guided them towards Kivar.

They joined his group, they were talking about the Siren.

"What a lovely voice, and a face to match." One man commented.

Vilandra frowned, she was supposed to be the beauty. People were supposed to pay attention to her.

"I met her once, she's very sweet." A younger man commented.

"Is it true she lives in the palace now?" he asked Vilandra.

She managed a beautiful smile for him. "Yes."

Kivar smiled at her, "Any why is that princess?"

"Zan feels that by having one of the Chosen near by it helps us be closer to the Gods, better please them. And it helps our spiritual health and consequently the nations." She replied, giving the reasons that Zan had given her when she moved in.

"King Zan is an amazing King, we're lucky to live under his reign." Kivar replied.

"Look there goes the Siren, I guess she's leaving." The man sounded disappointed.

Vilandra followed the pointed finger and sure enough she was walking along a side path, carrying a bag towards a xehg. She risked a glance at Rath, his face was unreadable.

"Excuse me." He murmured, slipping away.

She turned back to the conversation not really listening, she was watching Rath. He tried to talk to the girl, but she kept her head down and gently pushed past him. Vilandra realized that the Granal must be making her leave the palace, at a time when Rath couldn't do anything to stop it.

Sneaky.

Rath returned, just as Zan and Tav got there. The crowd around them backed away a minute at Zan's signal. Zan had seen what she had, he looked at Rath. "What's happening?"

Rath's voice was low, "They're trying to take her back to the temple."

Zan stared at Rath for a second, something unreadable passing between them. "Stop it, it's too much of a risk."

Rath nodded and started to leave, Zan hissed at him, "Rath."

He turned back, realizing his mistake. He planted a quick peck on her cheek, and left.

Appearance was everything.

Vilandra was curious, "Why can't she go back to the temple?"

Zan replied without thinking, "It's to risky, she'll spill the beans."

He was keeping something from her, they both were. She looked intently at her brother, "About what?"

He realized his mistake, glancing at her. "Nothing."

She was furious, Rath and Zan never kept things from her. "You're lying to me, and I want to know what you aren't telling me."

He turned away taking Tav with him, "Nothing."

She was out of the loop and she hated it, appearance was everything and she'd been deceived.

…


	22. Chapter 17

AN: First off the reviews were AMAZING as usual and second off I had this ready to post 2 days ago but wouldn't let me upload hten wouldn't let me log in. sigh/ must be a glitch, then they made me rewrite my answers..

Higherbeingfriendsfan: Thanks for the review and I'm happy you liked hte flashbacks, I struggled with them. I'm also thrilled that your liking hte Maria Michael interaction!

Inara84: Lovely name, thanks for the review

sunshine6258: Wow, thats alot of reading and hopefully not a lot of work for two days! Thanks so much for the glowing review, its really inspirational especially since I'm quasi working on a book right now but we'll see how that goes...

Teepot: Thanks for the amazingly long review, I totally dig it! I wish i had a job where i could read at work... The scene in the woods was hard to write and as for Q's power not being explored I really struggled with that factor. I want her to have some power but at the same time not be super powerful because I feel that's been done before, it's cliche. I am considering having her power explored, but not in the way everyone is expecting. Muahaa...I'll have to check out your story!

Candylovin Fehrian: Thanks for the review, I'm estatic you like Kyle and Tess, iI do too and we'll see alot more of them in this chappie. It's funny because the very first story I was going to write had Tess as evil, she'd used the Granolith to go back in time to destroy Maria because she was standing in the way of destiny... but I couldn't go through with it. I couldn't find the motivation because I'd really liked Tess on the show and thought that they totally mishandled her character...

Magali: Thanks for the review and constant support on this project and our other fledgling project!

Collision Part 17 "The Burden"

_ Is it necessary to try to carry this burden alone.  
If it were any other day I would stay to satisfy  
the urge for hope! But its dead, I'm running away._

It's so real, he said to the man with time on his hands.  
I don't think your ready,  
and I don't think I am ready to know.

_"the burden" so they say _

Maria woke up screaming sitting straight up in bed.

Michael was dead.

Michael was dead. Everything was over.

Her screams were muffled as she felt warm arms envelope her and turn her into a strong chest. Warm hands were rubbing her back and a low voice murmuring in her ear.

She focused on the voice even when murmuring soothingly it still sounded slightly gruff.

Michael?

Shaking she managed to pull away enough to see a face.

Michael, it was Michael.

He was talking to her but she couldn't make out what he was saying past her intense relief rushing in her ears.

Her stomach lurched. She was going to throw up.

She scrambled away, falling off the bed.

"Maria?"

She ignored him, half-crawling half running to the bathroom. She made it to the toilet and started retching.

Dimly she felt a smooth hand pull her hair back, stroking it softly.

She pulled away after the heaves stopped. She leaned against the coolness of the tub shaking and sweating. Her mother was there, flushing the toilet and handing her some cold water. "Are you ok?"

She nodded weakly, closing her eyes and sipping the cold water. She looked around her eyes locking on Michael. He was leaning on the doorframe, looking half-awake and anxious.

Her mother followed her gaze then looked back at her daughter. After a second she turned to Michael, "Michael will you go make some tea?"

Before Michael could respond the panic welled up in Maria. He couldn't go, he'd die. "No." it tore out of her throat desperately, almost a scream.

Her mother looked at her startled, then back and forth between them. Slowly she stood up, frowning. "Should I go make you tea?"

Maria gave her a weak nod, not taking her eyes off of Michael. Amy pursed her lips slightly and sighed, "I'll bring it to the living room."

Michael nodded at her and she left. He slowly came forward sitting down on the porcelain tub next to where she was leaning against it.

Maria looked dreadful, pale and shaky. He reached over and gently pushed the sweat damp hair from her forehead. "What happened?"

"Nightmare." She replied standing up, swaying slightly. He steadied her and she went to the sink.

"About what?" he was standing right behind her, close enough to catch her if she fell or broke down. She could feel the body heat radiating off of him.

She looked at him in the mirror then started splashing water on her face. After washing her face she brutally brushed her teeth.

He hadn't gotten the silent message.

"About what?" he repeated, putting a hand on her shoulder.

She moved to the door, gently brushing him off.

"You dying." She said it softly, slipping into the hallway immediately after.

He followed her, turning her around and pulling her into a tight hug. He brushed his lips against her forehead, "I'm not dying, ok?"

He was being as gentle as he could with her, as gentle as he knew how and it struck her. She leaned into him, feeding off of his warmth and inhaling his scent. She couldn't lose him, couldn't lose this. But the nightmare had been so realistic down to every little detail.

So realistic that even the vague memory of it brought tears to her eyes and a slight shiver to pass through her. Her knees were weakening, she couldn't do this.

He noticed her change in mood and lifted her up. She obligingly wrapped her legs around his waist and arms around his neck but kept her face buried in the crook of his neck.

He carried her down the hallway and into the living room. He bent over the couch, trying to set her down but she wouldn't let go of him.

"Maria let go."

"No." she wouldn't let go, if she let go he'd disappear and she'd be alone.

He sighed, this was killing his back. "I'll sit right next to you."

She grudgingly let go and he grabbed a blanket to tuck around her. After he got the blanket settled to his liking he plopped down on the couch right next to her as promised. She dislodged his careful tucking leaning her head on his chest, in response he wrapped his arm around her pulling her closer.

"Its ok, it was just a dream, Maria." He said it softly but with his usual authority. She could feel him talking, his voice vibrating through his chest.

She shook her head wanly against him, sounding utterly convinced. "He's going to kill you."

Before he could reply her mother came out of the kitchen wearing her robe and carrying a mug of tea. She handed it to her daughter, "How are you feeling?"

Maria sat up a small bit taking the tea.

"Better." Though she really wasn't.

Her mother smiled, placing a hand on her forehead to check her temperature. "What happened, baby?"

Maria took a sip of her tea and looked at Michael. She didn't want to say it.

"She had a bad dream." He replied for her, getting her unspoken message.

"Nightmare." Maria corrected weakly, it most definitely couldn't be classified as a bad dream.

He rubbed his face, "What time is it?"

"1 am." Amy replied, looking over at the clock on her mantle.

He made a face, "That was a long nap."

"Michael died." Maria said abruptly.

"I don't want him to die, I won't let him die." She continued on in a stronger voice.

"Oh, my baby." Her mother said, sitting down next to her and pulling her into a hug. They clung to each other like that for a few minutes while Michael just sat there feeling uncomfortable. Mrs.DeLuca's eyes met his over her daughter's shoulder.

She pulled away, "Drink some more tea, honey."

She obliged, making a face. "What's in it?"

Her mother smiled, yawning. "It'll help you sleep."

Michael smirked as Maria still drinking her tea curled back up against him.

Her mother stood up, hands on her hips. "C'mon its back to bed with you, young lady."

Maria shook her head at her mother. "In a little while, I'm still too wired."

Too terrified, too scared, too devastated.

Her mother looked at the two of them, a slightly worried look on her face. She looked at the way her daughter was clinging to a boy, at the need on her baby's face.

"I'll make sure she gets to bed." Michael told her.

"Alone?" Mrs.DeLuca asked before she could help herself. She'd let the fact that he was in her bed this afternoon slide because of the extraterrestrial visit. And the fact that they were both fully clothed, hadn't hurt either.

His face reddened slightly, "Of course."

Maria's head popped off his chest, looking intently into his face. "No! I'm not sleeping alone, I'm scared."

Her mother frowned, she wanted to tell her daughter that she could come and curl up in her bed with her. Just like when she was little and had bad dreams, but the days where Maria would crawl into her mother's bed when she was scared were over. Now she crawled to another's arms, another's comfort. "Maria, I do not want a boy in your bed….again."

"Mom!"

Amy DeLuca looked intently at Michael. She'd given him the talk, he was a good kid if a bit rough around the edges. He loved her daughter, he'd died for her daughter. He wouldn't try anything tonight.

"Fine, only for tonight. Michael, remember that talk we had."

He nodded, gulping. He looked slightly terrified. She smiled kissed her daughter on the forehead and gave Michael a warning glare. She really wasn't worried, but she had an image to keep up.

Then she slipped back to her own room.

"Talk you had, Michael?" Maria queried, sounding way too interested.

He blushed and changed the subject, "I had a flash."

"Tell me about it." She asked, leaning her head back against his chest. What she meant was distract me, make everything but the sound of your voice and your words fade away.

He half smiled, he understood her perfectly. Understood her need, she'd done the same for him.

"You were trashed, completely drunk. And I took care of you, even though you were driving me up the wall. You kept making me do ridiculous things, like feed an imaginary pet and catch you from falling because you were purposely running into walls."

He glanced down as he talked on, she'd made a soft noise. She was drifting away so he kept talking, saying things he wouldn't ever say to her if she was fully awake.

"You were so out of it, but adorable. After I finally managed to get you in bed you told me you loved me for the first time."

He looked down to see her reaction but found she'd fallen asleep. Whatever her mother had given her had worked.

His voice was softer, some things he couldn't say loudly. "What I didn't tell you was that I loved you too."

……………………………

Tess was sleeping peacefully, dreaming of the beach when she felt a presence enter her dream. She spun around, curious to see who'd joined her. It was an attractive man with a big smile.

Tess tentatively smiled back, before turning back to the beach in front of her. Abruptly the beach disappeared and everything went dark.

She twirled back around suddenly furious. She was sick of people walking in and trying to run things in her life. Nacedo had done it for years, then Max had tried, but she was finally free. Free to do as she pleased, free to make her own decisions and she wouldn't tolerate this man taking away her beach.

"What do you want?"

"Feisty, but you always made your opinions known didn't you?"

She nodded, but repeated her question with more kick this time. "What do you want?"

"Oh a million unattainable things." Another megawatt smile. "And quite a few attainable things."

"What are they?" she snapped.

"What are yours?" he parroted.

Tess was silent for a moment; her dreams were hers and hers alone. She was only just starting to have her own dreams, ones not shaped by the destiny with Max.

Suddenly images of Kyle appeared all around her. Kyle sleeping on the couch, Kyle sticking his tongue out with food all over it. Kyle praying to Buddha, Kyle doing a stupid little dance. Kyle devastated because his favorite hockey team lost, Kyle making stupid jokes with Alex. Kyle playing football, Kyle sitting next to her on the couch telling her about Scooby Doo.

She smiled at all of Kyle's different sides. Her companion looked intently at her, "He's very important isn't he?"

She nodded and he smiled, "You two get along great, he always supports you. It's a new experience for you, having that constant support. You didn't last time, there was too much fighting."

Tess rolled her eyes, this man was full of himself. "I'm afraid you're wrong, I remember Zan always being there."

He shook his head mournfully, "No, but you'll see."

………..

Tav was kneeling at the edge of the altar to the Gods for her morning devotions. It was set in one of the main halls along a wall with kneeling cushions on the floor. She was focusing on praying, on lifting her wants of children up to the Gods. Asking them to bless her and Zan with a family.

She was so focused on her devotions that she didn't hear the voices at first. Tav was shocked back into awareness when Q plopped down next to her, sharing her cushions. She almost toppled them both over, but a hand from above steadied her.

Q flashed her a brilliant smile, flipping back her long hair while righting her small circlet. She was adorable, crazy but adorable. Suddenly she frowned, turning all the way around and tilting her head up at Rath.

"Rath aren't you going to kneel or at least bow your head?" she demanded in her lilting tones, sometimes it was almost hard for Tav to follow what she said. She got so lost in the sounds.

He smirked down at her, "I bow for no one."

Q opened her mouth to say something to refute him. Tav quickly jumped in, hoping to avoid one of their constant pointless arguments. "It's true, he doesn't bow to Zan or other monarchs. He almost started a war because he wouldn't kneel in deference to the King of Xeren."

Her eyes twinkled, "Though he will kneel once in a while if the lady is special enough….."

Rath didn't respond to her jibe about him being a ladies man, he merely gave a pointed look at Q then looked away. Tav wasn't sure why he looked at the Siren until she looked herself, the girl was totally confused. She was trying to figure it out but it just wasn't working. Tav couldn't stop the giggles that escaped her mouth.

Finally Q made a face, letting it go, and settled in on her cushions. "Well I think that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard of. It wouldn't hurt your ego too bad to show some respect, or at least hedge your bets."

"Why should I bow to anyone? They don't bow to me." He asked her, giving them one of his important looks.

"Because they don't want to show you the back of their neck because they're terrified you'll snap it." The Chosen said sweetly. Tav added her agreement by nodding very seriously, it was great to tag team up on Rath.

A soldier appeared at Rath's elbow before he could a) wring their necks or b) merely threaten to. The soldier's voice was very respectful, if a bit scared and awed. "There's a message for you, Sir."

Rath gave them one last glare before taking the communicator and walking to one of the privacy alcoves.

Tav turned to Q who was still staring after Rath with an odd look on her face. "You really love rattling his cage don't you?"

The Chosen smiled, the odd look getting buried. "He's easy to annoy."

Tav begged to differ, most people couldn't get a rise out of Rath if they tried all day, but then most people wouldn't want to.

"You're crazy, brave but crazy." Tav replied shaking her head. She didn't get the two of them or the odd friendship that had sprung up when she'd been placed under his protection. She was just happy that it had, that Rath had a close friend, other than Zan, even if he wanted to wring her neck half the time. And Tav was quite fond of the odd girl herself, she was sweet but brutally honest.

Q laughed, "Do you think you can help me with something? I found out Rath's birthday is coming up and I wanted to surprise him…"

Tav nodded eagerly, she loved surprises. "How mad do you think he'd get if we threw him a party?"

An evil glint flashed in her eyes for a second, "Furious, he'd totally hate us. But what I was thinking is there is this music from Earth he keeps talking about, you know he's been going through all of their cultural stuff right?"

Tav nodded, thinking she'd have to get Zan to help her throw a party. It was one of Rath's sacred birthday's after all, 22, the repeating numbers indicating one of his big years.

"Yeah, he was trying to explain it to Zan, it's called rock or something." She sounded out the unfamiliar word, letting it roll off her tongue. It was a pretty word, she thought, nice and smooth. With a pretty name like that they're music was probably pretty too, very mellow she'd guess.

Q made a face, "Yeah, he keeps trying to get me to listen to it on those weird earth devices but the sound quality is so bad I can't. So I was thinking that we should see if we can get it transferred to our own music chips, you know, so that he can listen to it wherever he is rather than just at the Earth compound. Apparently the people that work there aren't as fond of the music as he is…."

"..but they're to terrified to say anything." Tav finished for her.

Q nodded in relief, she hated mentioning or acknowledging how terrifying people found their General. Tav grinned again, "This is perfect! Especially since I'm not really supposed to give Rath birthday presents anymore….he forbade it. Actually Zan doesn't really like my presents all that much either."

Her grin faded, Zan really hadn't liked her last few presents. But the jello wasn't her fault, Zan had said he'd liked the Earth food he'd had, so she'd tried to make him some…. She sighed, Earth was such an odd little planet.

Q's interest was piqued, "Why aren't you supposed to give Rath presents?"

She laughed, a slightly evil laugh. "Our brave and fearless General hates being the butt of a practical joke. Oh, and never give him anything alive…it just ends badly. Besides he always liked Vilandra's presents so much better than mine that I just started giving him crappy presents on purpose. She really knows him, really puts a lot of thought into what she gets him."

Q nodded, her smile gone. Her voice was fairly soft, "Well they are engaged."

Tav just nodded, it was true. But it was a doomed marriage if she ever saw one, Vilandra had lovers all the time and Rath was just too cold for her. She'd be furious with him all of the time for never paying enough attention to her. It wasn't Tav's place to say anything though, not when Zan wanted them to get married. She had to stand by her husband.

They were silent after that, getting settled back into their prayers. Sadly they were interrupted again, how was Tav ever going to have a baby if everyone kept her from asking the Gods for it. A priest tapped Q's shoulder causing her to look up and Tav to as well.

"Come, Qaelia."

Confusion flitted like a bird across The Siren's features. It was reflected in the mellifluous tones of her voice, "Why, brother? I'm at my morning devotions."

"You're to be purified, girl." The Priest snapped, obviously annoyed with having to explain himself. Tav watched all of the blood leave the other girl's face. She rose quickly, not even stiffening at the derogatory tone.

Well Tav wouldn't stand for it, she was one of the Blessed ones and deserved all of the respect it commanded, no matter what her gifts were. The priest never would have spoken to any of the other Chosen like that, he would have been groveling at their feet, humbly begging their pardon.

"She has a title." Tav snapped, standing herself, she made sure he got a good look at the Royal Crest on her robes.

"Of course, Your Majesty. I'm terribly sorry." He simpered at her, then he turned back to Q. "Please come with me, Blessed One."

She nodded at him, distracted and slightly embarrassed. Tav sighed, she needed to stop letting the First Order walk all over her. What she needed was a boost of self-confidence.

"Q?" Tav asked, gently touching her arm. She turned back around her eyes on the floor. It was almost like she was a different person whenever the First Order was around.

"Don't let them treat you like that. Make them give you the respect you deserve, just because your different doesn't mean your any less than the other Chosen. The Gods made you how you are for a reason, never forget that because you have more power than you know."

She looked up, meeting the Queen's eyes, her mirrored eyes were slightly dark and filled with thanks. She nodded, shot a glance at the alcove where Rath could still be seen angrily talking into the communicator, and drifted away after the priest.

Rath sauntered back over, finally finished with whatever business he'd had to attend to. He looked around in annoyance, "Where did Q disappear to? I was supposed to teach her basic self defense."

Tav couldn't help her smile, even when the girl wasn't there she still managed to get under Rath's skin.

"A priest came to get her. She has to do a purification ritual-"

She cut herself off as she heard the swish of Rath's blade slitting his own wrist. Quickly she looked up into his face, it was closed but his eyes had an odd glint to them.

Tav sighed, it was something to do with his training she knew. The odd glint, the cutting of his wrist, the fingering of his dog tags. Well where his dog tags should have been, they didn't seem to be there today. They were all clues. Rath was like her brother and it hurt to see him like this, hurting over an old pain.

"Why is she getting purified?" he snapped, sensing her pity.

She shrugged, "No clue, but I heard its painful….the purification I mean…"

Rath's eyes napped to her face, the odd glitter was more pronounced. Some of his instability was showing through, he was letting her see what raged beneath his icy control on purpose. He was trying to intimidate her, scare her and push her away, show her that he didn't need her pity.

"Oh it hurts…a lot. It's the first thing they do to potential trainees. The first test, they purify them then make them fight each other when they're so weak from the blood loss they can barely stand."

Tav kept her face perfectly calm, he may be the General but she was the Queen and she wouldn't play this game by his rules. "You seem to have gotten through it just fine."

He twirled his knife, giving her a smirk. "Sure, though I picked up this wonderful habit."

He was referring to his wrists.

His smirk widened as she realized what he meant, it showed an unusual streak of cruelty. "First they empty the body, they give you herbs to clear out your digestive track. You retch and get the runs, only a pure body can have pure thoughts. Or so they say. Then while your still shaky they scrub you down until your skin is raw. Next they slit your wrists to bleed out the impurities and sins-"

"Rath!" Zan's angry voice cut in, stepping up next to his wife.

Rath ignored him going on to finish his statement, "until your ready to pass out."

Rath twirled his knife, "What don't want your wife to know how barbaric the First Order really is?"

"Stop it, Rath." Zan's voice was firm, on edge.

His second gave him a nasty smile, "Why? Don't you remember your own purification ritual before becoming king? You –"

"That's enough." Zan's tone was final, whatever Rath was about to say he didn't want to be reminded of. Tav looked nervously back and forth between her husband and his best friend. Something was wrong, they were struggling for power.

"We're not doing enough about the Rebels!" Rath exploded.

"We don't have enough Intel, Rath."

"I just got a call, I have it narrowed down to 3 possible leaders." Rath was adamant.

"No." Zan was equally as adamant.

Anger flashed across the General's face. "I'm taking care of it."

"No. That's an order. We can't have you doing anything stupid or rash or both right now." She could feel Zan starting to access his power, and Rath doing the same. This was insane, they couldn't fight each other.

"Zan! Let him do his job." Tav spoke up. Zan was being an idiot, they couldn't have rebels running around. She trusted Rath.

He turned to look at her, "Stay out of this."

She reeled as if she'd been slapped, Zan always valued her opinions. Let her rule with him and considered what she thought when making his own decisions.

"An order from you, Zan, or the council? Oh wait it's the same thing." He shook his head in disbelief and anger.

Zan's face was stony, he didn't say a thing. He didn't have to. He'd given the order and Rath would obey, he always did in the end.

"Fine, I'll go sit in my room, like a good boy."

He was lying, he was going to do something stupid. He was going to ignore the order and do what he thought was right for once. Tav could feel it, could see it written all over him. She glanced at Zan, he didn't seem the least bit concerned.

A priest appeared, "General Rath, I need you to come with me, sir. The First Order has requested you be purified to help you focus."

He spun furiously to look at Zan. "This is ridiculous."

Something dark flashed in his eyes and he slit his own wrist again. Zan pushed Tav behind him, at the look on Rath's face.

"This is too far Zan, even for you." Rath spat before turning to back to the priest. "Fine."

"Sir?" The nervous priest asked gesturing to his wrist.

Rath gave him a chilling smile, "Just a head start."

The priest nodded, then practically fled with Rath storming after him.

Tav looked at the hard look on her husband's face and sighed. "What did Rath mean about you going too far?"

Zan rubbed his face, sitting down. "The Council was worried that Rath would rush in and ruin everything. So they asked the First Order to purify him because 'he hasn't been as focused lately' which is true. They think it will get rid of whatever is plaguing him and refocus him as well as keep him out of trouble."

Tav was disgusted, they all but imprisoned Rath to keep him from something he might or might not do. "And you agree with that?"

Zan shook his head, "Yes, no. No of course not. But they insisted."

A thought occurred to her, "Did they order anyone else to be purified? Qaelia is undergoing the ritual too."

Zan slapped his leg, "Well there goes the refocusing. No they didn't."

Her brow furrowed in confusion, "What do you mean?"

He shook his head, "Nothing. Nothing at all."

He was lying to her, keeping secrets and she hated it. When had they drifted apart? When had her marriage become full of secrets? She shook her head, she loved Zan dearly but he was easily manipulated. Especially when he was told it was for the greater good.

"Zan the council is a set of advisors. You have the crown, the power. You don't have to do everything they say!"

He looked up at her, his face closed off. "They were my father's advisors, Tav. You wouldn't understand, you're a Queen-consort."

And with that he stormed off leaving her upset and alone. Just like everyone else who'd left had been upset.

He was right she wouldn't understand, but she wasn't a consort either. She was a Queen and had all the power that went with it. Power to right some of Zan's wrongs, and make her own decisions.

…………..

Tess turned back to Kivar, utterly nonplused. So they hadn't gotten along perfectly, big whoop.

He smiled, gesturing around at all the Kyles. "Zan wasn't always there for you, which makes Kyle all that much more special."

Tess smiled, it was true. "Yeah."

Suddenly all of the Kyles disappeared. All that was left was an image of Kyle sleeping on the couch.

Kivar gave her a dark smile, "If you value his life you'll take my deal."

Tess just stared at him in disbelief. Did he really think he could just come into her mind and threaten her?

"I want the Royal Four shattered, your group of friends all angry at each other. Or I'll cause a brain aneurysm in Kyle's little brain. So do we have a deal?" His smile was cold, but full of confidence. He thought he had her trapped, well he'd never met Tess Harding.

Fury swept through Tess, how dare he? How dare this man threaten Kyle, threaten her family. She stalked over to him, poking him in the chest. "If you go near Kyle, or any of my friends, I'll blow the Granolith to kingdom come."

His face paled but she continued on still enraged. "Then I'll hunt down every single skin until I've slaughtered all of them single handedly. Genocide, and then I'll come to Antar and finish the job. So do we have a deal?"

"You wouldn't dare." He hissed, the calm attractive exterior gone.

"I dare a whole lot more than you could handle." Then she started kicking him, she wanted him out.

He disappeared and Tess stood there breathing hard for a moment before turning back to the beach with a small smile on her face.

……….

"And I said what about breakfast at the DeLucas?" Kyle sang at the top of his lungs.

"Kyle, shut up!" The Sheriff and Tess chorused together with Tess covering her ears. The Sheriff turned the cruiser onto the DeLuca's street.

"What? Mrs.DeLuca makes good pancakes, the song is on and we're going to breakfast…" he grinned then picked the song back up at the top of his lungs, "As I recall I think we both kinda liked it."

"That's still no excuse for you to sing, Kyle."

"Ouch. That really hurts, Tess." She rolled her eyes, Kyle was so melodramatic.

"We're here kids, so play nice." The Sheriff told them as he pulled into the driveway.

They got out of the cruiser, the Sheriff fixing his hat carefully and gently grasping the bouquet of flowers he'd had Tess help him pick out.

"That is so wrong." Kyle murmured to Tess, motioning at his dad as they followed him up the steps.

Amy DeLuca opened the door with a fluttery voice, "Oh, hi Jim."

"These are for you." He said handing her the flowers with a small laugh.

"Oh you shouldn't have Jim." She replied giving him a fluttery laugh and wanton look.

"Buddha help me." Tess whispered softly to herself as the adults walked off arm in arm.

"Did you just ask Buddha for help?" Kyle crowed following her into the living room.

"No." she denied flouncing away ahead of him.

"You did! You totally did! Buddha as my witness, I knew you were coming around!" Kyle was giddy with his excitement.

"Your imagining things, Kyle." She hissed at him.

"No way, Buddha girl!"

Tess spun around grabbing the front of Kyle's shirt.

"Shut. Up. Or I'll be forced to use my formidable alien powers on you." She enunciated every word, knowing that her powers still gave him the heebie jeebies.

He gulped, looking around to avoid her eyes. His gaze landed on a very amused Michael leaning against a door jam, wearing a wife beater and boxers. He smirked at Kyle, all but laughing at him.

Kyle nearly groaned, of course if anyone had to see him humiliated it would have to be Michael. He definitely just got knocked down the manhood scale by a few pegs in Michael's eyes…

"Ugh, Michael. Do the world a favor and put some clothes on." Isabel called from the front door, giving him a withering but playful look.

He scowled at her, "Don't be jealous, Isabel."

Tess piped up, "Michael, that made no sense. Isabel is a girl…your not unless Maria's been hiding something major during girl talk."

He gave her a disgusted look and then walked away.

"Tess Harding 1. Michael Guerin 0." Kyle demonstrated with his hands as he talked.

"Don't let Michael hear you say that." Max warned turning to close the door only to be stopped by the newly arrived Alex.

He slipped in with Liz behind him.

"Do I smell pancakes?" he asked, sniffing the air hopefully.

Liz just smiled at everyone, "Everyone sleep tight?"

Various nods all around the room, Isabel looked at Alex. "How are you feeling?"

"Like new, though I'm famished." He replied leading the way into the kitchen.

Michael walked into the kitchen grabbing the juice carton, he raised it to his mouth to take a swig but was whacked with a spatula.

"No you don't, mister. In this house we use cups. Is Maria awake yet?"

Chagrined he let Mrs.DeLuca take the juice carton out of his hands without complaint. Hastily while she poured him a glass he moved out of range of the spatula. "No, I wanted to let her sleep."

She looked intently at the dark circles under his eyes, "How many more times did she wake up?"

He rubbed his face, accepting the glass of juice she offered. "3."

Amy sighed, flipping an unsuspecting pancake. "Thanks for taking care of it, but she really needs to get up."

He scratched his eyebrow, they both knew he was the only one she'd let take care of her. He was slightly uncomfortable with it, with taking that small thing of comforting her after bad dreams from her mother.

"I'll take care of it." He said softly, setting down his juice and leaving the kitchen.

Before Mrs.DeLuca could dwell on how she was slowly losing her baby a blonde head appeared at her elbow. "Do you need any help, Mrs.DeLuca?"

She nodded, giving the helpful blonde a smile. "Can you flip?"

Tess gave an affirmative so she left her in charge of flipping pancakes. She set Max and Kyle to setting the table with Alex and Isabel pouring drinks. Liz got all of the butters and syrups out and ready for consumption while Amy enjoyed a nice moment with Jim Valenti.

Everyone's heads snapped up at the scream. It was followed quickly by "I hate you Michael Guerin." And the sounds of things being thrown.

Several people smiled and Kyle made a comment, "I guess Michael woke Maria up."

Everyone started sitting down at the table, using various chairs and stools, as Mrs.DeLuca brought out two huge platters of steaming pancakes.

"Regular." She said setting down the first one.

"And alien." She finished setting down the other platter.

"That's really sweet of you." Isabel told her with a warm smile, marveling at how easily if oddly she'd accepted aliens.

She shrugged, "Michael needs to eat more, the boy is practically skin and bones."

He was not but before anyone could respond Maria stormed into the kitchen, "Michael does not need to eat more, what Michael needs is to fall in a lake."

She grabbed Michael's glass of juice while furiously rubbing out her ear, all but two faces reflected confusion at her odd actions. Max and Isabel merely smiled, the ghost of laughter playing on their faces. "You didn't…"

"I did." Michael confirmed with a smirk.

Alex looked at the two of them, "Did what?"

"Did what?" Maria raged.

"What he did was shove an ice cube in my ear."

Kyle and Tess started cracking up and it only seemed to enrage her further. She twirled on Michael but he cut her off. "I tried to wake you up nicely. Then I gave you fair warning. I told you to get up or I would be forced to take drastic measures."

"And immediately after, before I had any chance to respond, you jumped on me and put ice in my hear. In my ear, Michael. Where in your twisted little alien mind did you come up with that?"

He pushed her down into a chair by her shoulders. "It was five minutes later, Maria."

He leaned over her, plopping 3 pancakes on her plate, then adding butter to her pancakes. "And as for where it came from, ask Isabel."

Isabel lost the smile she'd had at how Michael was getting Maria's food for her. She made a face as Michael seated himself, "Michael and Max used to do it to me when we were kids to wake me up when they had sleep-overs."

Max grinned, they'd been nasty kids.

Kyle got an evil glint in his eyes but Tess caught it, "Don't even think about it."

Liz smiled at the playful banter, but they had more important things to talk about at this breakfast. "So guys, I really want to talk about yesterday in further detail…"

"I don't want to." Maria said, setting down her fork.

"Why not?" Max asked, looking closer at her. She looked tired, with dark circles and bags under her eyes. She didn't say anything else so he turned to Michael. He looked tired as well, but was nudging Maria's fork back into movement. Michael caught his gaze and gave a slight shrug of his shoulders before going back to his own food.

"Oookay." Max said, drawing it out in any effort to get someone to say something.

Isabel piped up, "Well in that case I have something to share."

Everyone's eyes turned towards her except for Kyle who was eating with a single-minded intensity that couldn't be disturbed.

"I had a visit from Kivar last night."

Maria dropped her fork and knife for the second time, her head snapping up. Isabel and Michael both gave her odd looks but Isabel continued on, deciding to let Michael handle it.

"He sparked my memory of a public appearance back on Antar. Rath and I were walking and we heard yelling. The Granal, like their pope, was yelling at Maria because she wouldn't do what he said. He embarrassed her then he hit her-"

"Someone hit my baby!" Mrs.DeLuca demanded loudly while Michael sat straight up in his seat.

Max's cool voice cut in, "In the past on another planet, go on Isabel."

She shot him a grateful look. "Well Michael, Rath, took care of it. He was really furious, he broke the guys arm and they had a macho argument but Q caved before Rath could do anything stupid. Later during the appearance the Granal tried to move Maria out of the palace…"

"When Michael couldn't do anything to stop it." Alex supplied, a thoughtful look in his eye.

"Sneaky. I've always said you can never trust a pope…" Kyle added.

His father reached over and whacked him upside the head, "You've never said that Kyle."

Isabel nodded, giving Kyle the 'You're an idiot' look. "Yeah, but he went and stopped it anyway at Zan's order and abandoned me."

"Why would Kivar show you that? It makes no sense.." Tess said.

"Because he wanted us to see how tense relations were with the First Order. How one word, one action could ruin everything." Maria whispered it softly, she was feeling all sorts of things at once.

Her voice was still soft, "Because I was disloyal, siding with the Royals in the power struggle. And because at the end I forsook the First Order for Rath, and I died for it. A lot of people died because of it."

She looked up, "We all died because of it."

Max looked at her sternly, "We died for a lot of reasons, to for one. So don't even say that."

She was troubled, deeply troubled by all of her flashes, by what'd she'd seen. She looked at her hands, at the ring on her thumb. She made her decision. "Michael can I speak to you in private?"

He nodded and they silently left the table.

Kyle looked at Alex, "10 bucks says she tries to dump him."

"There will be no betting on my daughter in my house, understood?" Amy DeLuca said sternly with a fixed look at Kyle.

He gulped, DeLuca women terrified him. "Yes, ma'am."

"Did anyone else notice Maria's odd reaction when Isabel mentioned Kivar?" Tess asked partly because she was curious and partly to try and help Kyle out.

Isabel nodded, "Yeah."

Tess sighed, "Well, I've got some news too. Kivar visited me this morning."

Kyle reached out lifting a pancake form Maria's plate, "You get a visit, Maxie?"

Liz reached over and whacked Kyle upside the head.

Max grinned, "Nope. What'd he tell you, Tess?"

She snorted, "He tried to offer me a deal. Then showed me a memory where we were all mad at each other."

"What kind of deal?" Max asked looking worried.

Tess's eyes slid to Kyle. "He said he could kill Kyle from Antar by causing a brain aneurysm if I didn't break up our group."

"What did you say?" The Sheriff asked with a nervous glance at his son.

Tess gave a nasty smile, "That if he touched Kyle, or any of my friends, I'd blow the Granolith to Kingdom come, then annihilate every Skin I came across until I'd committed genocide."

Alex choked on his pancakes, he glanced up nervously. "Tess we're friends right? I mean we've got the whole mini Scooby Gang of Alex, Kyle and Tess thing going for us right?"

She gave him a wicked smile, "Of course we're friends, especially if you help me with today's precal quiz."

Amy turned to the Sheriff, "Do you realize the kids at your house are always trying to extort people? Kyle should be in gambler's anonymous and Tess just manipulates.."

He laughed, giving her a winsome smile. "I do try."

"Anyway" Kyle said loudly, stealing Maria's last two unsuspecting pancakes.

"How did he take your threatening to explode the mystery van?" Alex asked.

Tess gave another nasty smile, "No clue. I kicked him and then he disappeared scowling."

"Whoa go Tess, you tell that despot! When did you get all feisty? Where did sweet compliant Tessie go?" Kyle asked patting her on the back roughly.

"Did Kyle just use the word despot?" Liz wondered aloud.

……………

Maria drug Michael down the hallway to her bedroom. He leaned up against her vanity while she shut the door.

"Spaceboy, I've been thinking."

"This can't be good," he muttered.

She didn't even notice his little remark, which meant she was really preoccupied. She was wringing her hands, pacing back and forth. Her back was to him when she spoke again.

"I don't think we should be together anymore."

He straightened up, confusion and denial crossing his face. He hadn't been expecting this. He wasn't sure what to do, Maria was never the one who ended things. That was always him.

"Maria, if this is about last night…its fine I didn't mind.." He walked up behind her while he talked, placing his hands on her shoulders.

"It's not about last night…well some of it is. Can you not touch me, please? I can't break up with you while your touching me." She turned around while she was talking, trying to dislodge his hands. But turning around also meant looking at him, which was a mistake.

He didn't let go of her, instead he wrapped an arm around her waist pulling her closer. "Fine, I won't let go then."

She sighed in annoyance, "Michael…"

But she leaned into him regardless, laying her head on his chest. Maria stood with him like that for a moment then sighed, pulling her head away. "Michael, I love you so much more than you'll ever know-"

"So what's the problem?" He demanded, cutting in.

She gave a half laugh at him, then sobered. "We can't do this. Michael, you were right when you said it wasn't safe-"

He cut her off again, not wanting to hear her words. "Why is it one of us is always trying to get out, why can't we just be happy and committed to this for once?"

She could have easily made a jab at him, asked him why he always felt the need to leave her. But she didn't, "I don't know, I just don't know. You left me once because it wasn't safe. I'm doing the same now, I can't stand by and watch you die or fight for me."

He pulled her chip up so that she was looking him in the eye. He wiped the lone tear from her cheek, hoping she could understand how he felt. He had to use words, he had to try verbally to find something to say that would change her mind.

"Maria, breaking up with me won't change what will or won't happen. It won't make me stop loving you or not protect you."

His voice wasn't loud but it carried all of the emotions he always hid, the emotions he struggled with showing her.

She laid her head back on his chest, he rarely said he loved her and when he did it was usually under extremes. Or indirectly, like now.

Maria didn't know what to say or do, how to react to his proclamation. She thought dumping him would make him so angry with her he would refuse to have anything to do with her. So she asked, "Why are you always so difficult and stubborn?"

He smirked into her hair, his face buried into it. He'd won and he knew it.

"I just am."

Her stomach growled and he pulled away. "Let's finish breakfast. We can talk about it later."

"Later?" she queried.

"Yeah, during 3rd period in the eraser room."

She laughed following him down the hall, "In your dreams, Spaceboy."

They got back to the table and Maria looked down at her now empty plate, "Where are my pancakes?"

Her eyes swung towards the males, "Kyle?"

"Hey, Tess is my friend so you shouldn't try anything."

"Getting a woman to protect you, Valenti?" Michael smirked sitting back down.

He shrugged not in the least bit abashed. "Hey if she can take on Kivar, she's good for Maria-rage."

"Maria, Tess and I were both visited by Kivar in our dreams. Were you?" Isabel queried looking intently at her.

"Uh, yeah." She replied cutting into her new pancakes with a glance at Michael. He just raised an eyebrow at her.

"He, um, showed me a memory of how Rath almost died protecting me in a fight. It was horrible, really really dreadful. He was unconscious for days and I couldn't do anything to help him. But then, um, Kivar reminded me of the deal that little twerp offered me, since Fonbar is coming."

She looked hastily at Michael, "I didn't take it."

"Oh my gosh, look at the time! Kids your gonna be late!" Mrs.DeLuca fluttered shooing them all away from her table.

There was a flurry of movement as people got up and grabbed backpacks. Kyle and Alex industriously kept shoving down their throats until Mrs.DeLuca whacked them both.

"Go, your not starving."

She kissed Maria on the cheek, shoving a lunch in her hand. "Be good."

Then Amy swirled to Michael, she pinched his cheek handing him a lunch, despite his confused look. "Take care of her."

He nodded, giving his lunch a baffled look.

"Maria told me you never eat lunch. That's not healthy." She lectured while pushing him out the door.

She shut the door on all of them.

"Your mother made me a lunch" Michael accused Maria as they climbed into the back of the jeep.

"You act like it's a bad thing." Maria said while putting her own lunch carefully into her backpack.

He seemed almost fascinated by his brown sack, clutching it tightly. Curious he opened it to see what he'd gotten.

"What'd you get?" Kyle asked eagerly, thinking about food longingly, from the front seat while he flipped through Max's music collection.

Max looked at Kyle, "Why are you in my jeep instead of with Alex?"

Kyle shrugged, "Tess said I sing badly and was banned from riding with her, besides Isabel wanted to ride with the A-man."

Michael meanwhile was examining his sandwich, chips, apple and cookies. He pulled out an alien themed napkin and scowled. Then he found the best part.

"She gave me hot sauce packets!" he exclaimed with the excitement of a little kid finding their favorite desert.

He looked over at Maria grinning. She gave him a weird look, "Your acting like this is your first home packed lunch, Spaceboy. It's not that amazing."

He put the hot sauce carefully back into his bag scowling at her, "Maybe it is."

Maria's smile faded for a second as she recalled Hank, then it came back full force as she salvaged her comment. "Well it's Kyle's first time thinking so I think you win."

"Hey!" Kyle exclaimed turning around in his seat.

He paused, "Why does everyone always make fun of me?"

"You're an easy target. Let's look at the facts. You're a jock who worships Buddha, has an unhealthy obsessing with Scooby Doo and doesn't know what electricity is…" Maria listed ticking her reasons off on her fingers. Max snickered.

"You don't know what electricity is either. I'm at least passing….."

"Don't call Maria stupid." Michael snapped, she may not be the brightest star in the classroom but she was his girlfriend.

Kyle grinned, obviously in a maniacal mood. "Fine I'll call you stupid. Are you even classified as a junior?"

"Now that was a stupid thing to do." Max quipped, nobody insulted Michael.

"Michael's not stupid he's actually really good at math. He just doesn't go to class…" Maria explained earnestly to Kyle.

Michael just looked at Kyle until Kyle started to sweat. Then he smirked, mirroring the words of a smart girl. "Don't insult me……or I'll be forced to use my formidable alien powers on you."

Kyle groaned.

…………

Kyle plopped down next to Max with his tray of food, a burger, fries, 2 slices of pizza and some brownies. Max just looked at all of the food and shook his head.

"What? Its football season." Kyle said as though it explained everything.

Liz looked up from her spot on the other side of Max, "That doesn't mean you get to attempt to puke yourself by eating too much, Kyle."

He shrugged, "I eat a lot during football season because during wrestling season I can't eat."

Alex sat down, "And I just eat a lot. I mean dodgeball really takes a lot out of a guy…"

Liz just laughed; she loved Kyle and Alex even if she'd never admit it. They were eternally amusing. Alex looked around, "So where's Michael and Maria?"

Isabel shrugged passing the sugar back to Tess for her yogurt, "Who knows? Killing each other, killing other people…"

"Or making out." Tess added.

Liz rolled her eyes at the blonde's bluntness, but it was true. Especially from what Maria said about Michael.

Tess leaned conspiratorially over to Kyle; "According to Maria he's insatiable."

Kyle choked at the husky tone of her voice making him suddenly lose control of his bodily functions.

Max looked up worriedly glancing at Liz; "Do y'all really talk about that kind of stuff?"

Isabel rolled her eyes at her younger brother; "We're girls we talk about everything. Besides your guys, you guys talk about it in the locker rooms."

Max looked at Liz who was blushing slightly. Isabel caught the look, "Oh relax, Max. Liz has only given you glowing reviews."

A cocky grin settled in on his face as Maria and Michael came over and plopped down, taking out their lunches. Maria's hair was slightly mussed and Michael still looked slightly out of breath.

"Why are you late?" Liz asked, curious as to what they'd say.

"Didn't hear the bell." Michael mumbled while opening the edge of his hot sauce packet.

"And where were you that you couldn't hear the bell?" Kyle wondered aloud, batting his eyelashes at them.

"I so called it, they were making out." Tess crowed triumphantly.

Maria's cheeks guiltily reddened, while Michael just dared anyone to say anything about it.

Liz made an annoyed face, "So you're who was in the eraser room. Jerks."

Several cat calls from Alex and Kyle alerted Liz that she'd spoken aloud. She turned bright red. Maria grinned at her friend, "Who are you booking eraser room time with?"

She looked at Max, "Girlfriend anything to add?"

Max grinned at her. Michael nudged Maria in the side, "Do you realize what this means, Maria?"

She shook her head, looking at him. He grinned, looking evilly at Max and Liz.

"It means the dream team can't lecture us about cutting class to hit the ER anymore, not when they're trying to score some quality chalk clapping time themselves…"

Maria's evil grin matched Michael's.

Tess looked up in despair; "I'm out of sugar."

Her eyes looked straight at Kyle. He stared back, "What do you want me to do about it? I've got some serious eating to do here."

Her lower lip started to stick out, "Kyllleeeee."

He resolutely took another bite of his pizza, thoroughly ignoring the quivering lip.

"I'd love you forever….." She was doing it in her cutest little girl voice.

He looked to Alex for support, but Alex just shrugged.

"Fine." He sighed, getting up. He knew Tess wouldn't let him enjoy his food properly if she was out of sugar, she'd ruin his lunch with looks and then he'd feel guilty.

Max had the decency to hide his smile but Michael just openly smirked at him. Kyle rolled his eyes.

"I need another coke. How many packets do you need Tess?" He tried to make it look like he was getting up all along and not just for Tess.

She shot him a gorgeous smile that did funny things to his heart. "Six should do it."

"I hope you get cavities." He muttered over his shoulder as he walked off.

He nodded to Paulie and Jones, where they were sitting with a group of girls. Where he used to sit. They nodded back and Kyle continued on acknowledging various people of the Roswell social elite.

He got to the condiment table and grabbed several packets of sugar, stuffing them into his pocket.

"Tell her the deal is still open." A voice said behind him.

Kyle spun around, but didn't see anyone. He shook his head, but kept himself on high alert. He turned to get in line but a small brown haired freshman was standing in front of him.

Kyle almost jumped in surprise, the guy hadn't been there a second before. He narrowed his eyes, there was something wrong with this kid.

"Tell her the deal is still open." He repeated.

Kyle felt fury start to build, this is the guy that threatened Maria. The guy that accosted his almost-soon-to-be--sister. "Nobody is taking any deals, so why don't you run home to daddy."

He turned to go but the kid grabbed his arm, his grip was strong. Ridiculously strong for someone his size. "I wouldn't talk to me like that, human."

"And I wouldn't touch me like this-" he stopped because pain was exploding everywhere. Kyle couldn't think, couldn't do anything but scream and scream in his mind.

He felt everything starting to go gray and wanted to die. He wanted to kill himself, anything to end this horrible, all encompassing, excruciating pain.

Abruptly it stopped and it was all Kyle could do to breathe. Amazingly his legs, held intact by his pride, kept him upright.

"Deliver the message. Or it'll hurt much worse, for much longer." And the small boy disappeared before Kyle could react.

"Kill the messenger why don't you?" Kyle muttered under his breath.

Kyle stood there for a few more moments getting his bearings then got himself a coke. He desperately needed the sugar and caffeine. He walked slowly back over to his friends, still shaking. He fished out Tess's sugar packets from his pocket mechanically dropping them on the table.

Then he sank down into his seat, pushing his head down. He had a killer headache now, one that refused to stop pounding. Somebody started to rub his back.

"Are you ok, Kyle? What happened?" Tess's voice sounded frantic. Frantic over him, he noted dimly, pleased.

He managed to lift his head, "I met your lovely friend Nicholas."

He heard the swoosh of several let out breaths, the worry reverberating around him. "What did he do?" It was Max's strong voice with a glance at Isabel.

Kyle rubbed his eyes, hoping to chase away the spots, "He told me to tell her the deal is still open. Then he fried my brains like an egg."

He felt Maria wrap her arms around him, hugging him from behind. "I'm so sorry, Kyle. I'm so sorry."

He managed to awkwardly pat her, the pain was starting to go away now that he'd said something. "It's fine."

"It's not fine." Michael growled.

"Michael is right, this is serious. We're starting to get attacked, even the h-members of our group." Max said, sounding somber.

"h-members?" Alex asked.

Max glanced around, making sure nobody was close enough.

"Humans. Now more than ever we aren't alone, not for a single minute. Not to go to the bathroom, not to sleep. I want one of us with one of you always." He motioned to the four aliens and the four humans.

"We should pair up, so that we don't get confused over who's supposed to be with who." Liz said, looking around and slipping her hand into Max's.

It seemed almost obvious who the pairs should be, who the pairs everyone wanted them to be. But Maria didn't want that, she glanced nervously at Michael then looked at Tess.

"Tess?"

Tess looked at Maria for a moment, understanding the unspoken request. Maria didn't want to be with Michael, Maria didn't want to put Michael in any additional danger she might bring.

Michael looked up, "What? No."

Tess spoke up, "No, Maria's right. Like Max said not alone for a minute, not to go to the bathroom or sleep. We can't do that if were different sex pairs, Michael you can't exactly follow Maria into the restroom. And how are those of us with uniformed parents going to explain boy-girl sleep overs?"

"No. That's your problem." Michael said stubbornly.

Alex sighed, his hopes dashed. Max looked at Michael who was looking to him for support. He sighed, he wanted to protect Liz to make sure she was absolutely safe but Tess was right, they couldn't have any more attention.

"Tess is right, we do same sex pairs. For everything she said and because I know Alex and Kyle are protective guys, if it came down to it they'd try and protect the girls and probably get themselves killed."

"This is stupid." Michael announced. Then he looked around at all the set faces.

"Fine. But whoever my partner is, know this, we are staying close to Maria and Tess."

Kyle met his eyes, man to man. He may not have powers but he'd protect Tess. "Then you're with me."

Michael nodded, that was taken care of. He could handle Kyle, hopefully they wouldn't kill each other.

Liz smiled at Isabel, this could be a good thing. They could bond, all the previous friendship they'd started had gotten swept away when she'd gone to Florida for the summer. "I guess you're with me."

Isabel gave a tentative smile back, "Cool, we can do makeovers tonight!"

Alex rolled his eyes at the girls but nodded at Max. They got along fairly well, Max wasn't nearly as threatening or intimidating as Michael.

Max nodded back, "So we're set?"

Nods all around. "Good, now we just need to figure out a plan for when evil alien creeper comes knocking."

"Kill him." Michael didn't even stop eating, he was perfectly serious. Totally and completely committed to it.

Maria looked at her moody boyfriend, "Is that your answer to everything? Kill him, Kill it."

He looked up at her, his eyes cold. "It works."

She made a face at him, "No, Michael it obviously doesn't. We had to cover up Pierce using Nacedo, where is that guy by the way, and then the first Vicky you killed miraculously didn't stay dead…."

He bristled, he didn't want to talk about Pierce, that had been an accident. He turned his anger on her, "Why does it bother you? I thought you wanted him dead, or am I mistaken about your feelings for the guy."

A sharp intake of her breath. "Maybe I should be worried because you really want to run off into the sunset holding his hand. Maybe-"

She cut him off in a soft voice, her eyes wet. "Maybe I just don't like planning cold blooded murder."

And then she was up and gone, all but running from the quad.

"Damnit." He hit the table, rubbing his face standing up to go after her. Kyle grabbed his shoulder.

"Stay, Tess already went."

He hit the table again, clearing off the remnants of Maria's lunch.

"Why do you say things like that to her?" It was Liz's voice, angry and upset. She hated how Michael always went off on Maria for no real reason.

He didn't say anything, he didn't have to answer to Liz.

"Why, Michael? Why do you always hurt her on purpose?" Liz was starting to get in his face now and he didn't like it one bit.

"She gets me so angry." He muttered standing up.

"Yeah, well you should really learn to control that."

He shot Liz one last look, but she was right and the only way for him to control it right now was to get away from her. He glanced at Kyle, and they walked off.

"Well that went well." Isabel murmured, snaking Michael's left over hot sauce packet.

Alex nodded, "At least he took Kyle with him. Look at them, they're like the Lone Ranger and Silver…"

Isabel quirked a smile, "Which one gets to be the Lone Ranger?"

Max grinned, "Definitely Kyle."

He glanced at Liz, who was still fuming. "Let it go, Liz. It'll work itself out."

Liz made a face, "I hate how he treats her half the time."

Isabel made a face back at her, "True, but he tries his best. You have to remember Michael is, well, he's Michael. Besides Maria's no peach in that relationship either."

Liz took a moment to think about that, it was true Maria wasn't exactly always sweet or nice to Michael. She jumped to a lot of conclusions, and then there was Hank. She always forgot how Michael was raised, he seemed so strong and independent living on his own. She decided to cut him some slack.

She smiled at Isabel, "Good point."

Alex grinned, "Yeah, I mean Maria is definitely more of pineapple than a peach…"

………………….……………….

Tess walked after Maria, but she was starting to feel droopy. Seeing Michael hit the table in frustration as she walked away had done something to her, started the memories again.

"Maria?" she knew her voice was fading, she was about to pass out.

Maria spun around, took one look at her face and pulled her into the nearby broom closet. She sat her down, "Let it come."

Tess nodded, and was gone.

….

She looked over at Zan as they walked down the hallway. They needed to find Rath, to check on him. Zan told her he wasn't the same anymore, that he was a shadow. He'd told her about the disastrous marriage and Granix ceremony and Tav's heart went out to Rath. She knew the pain, she'd felt it. She'd never have guessed Rath and Q had been more than friends, but she wasn't supposed to. It was supposed to be a secret and the wrong people found out and now….now she was dead. Tav grieved for her friend, for the small girl that had brought so much warmth to the empty palace, but she knew that if what Zan said was true then she'd grieve for the loss of Rath more. He was like her brother, always looking out for her, working with her.

"Why aren't we going to his room?" Tav queried as they stopped in front of the door next to his room. Vilandra stopping behind her.

Zan gave her a sad smile, "He's not there. He's here, where she stayed."

Tav nodded sadly, he would go somewhere that reminded him of her.

Zan knocked, there was no response. He opened the door slowly.

Rath was curled up on the bed, clutching a piece of paper with Q's kitten, Narka, licking his face. He looked dead, he was staring straight ahead at the blooming narka plant on the bedside table, giving the kitten no notice.

Tav felt her eyes start to darken just looking at him, it was horrible, he looked haggard, he'd lost weight, he was unkempt and that was just his body. Her eyes focused on his face and she looked away the naked pain too much for her to handle.

His eyes were completely black and completely empty of everything except his pain. Hell burned in his gaze, unending suffering and shards that cut whatever was left of his soul. He wanted to die, to follow her wherever she'd gone and it was completely obvious looking at him. There were angry red gashes down his face where he'd scratched himself during one of the earlier bouts of insanity. They'd had to have his nails cut as well as take away any weapons and sharp objects.

He didn't look up or even acknowledge that they'd entered the room. They all approached the bed slowly, afraid of his reaction. Zan squatted down next to his face so that Rath was looking at him. "We brought you some food, you should eat." 

His eyes stirred, the suffering focusing on Zan. "No."

His voice was raw, broken and bleeding, it sounded as though it took a monumental effort even to say that much. His voice was that of someone who'd spent the last day screaming until he'd been knocked out.

"Please Rath. You can't go on like this, you need to eat. She would want you to…" Zan tried sounding desperate. He hadn't eaten since she'd died 2 days ago.

At the mention of her Rath squeezed his eyes shut, his breathing quickening. "She wouldn't want anything, she's dead."

The little cat mewed at him, licking his face again in an effort to make him open his eyes. Tav almost smiled at the sight, but it was too heartbreaking. Rath reached out shoving the small animal off the bed, he didn't want comfort he wanted death.

Vilandra sat down gingerly next to his head, gently stroking his hair. She sniffed him delicately, guilt and concern covering her features like a mask. "If you won't eat you should at least bathe."

He shook his head furiously, hugging himself. It was obvious he ached for her, for her touch. For even the smallest brush of her hair against his arm. "She…no…I won't wash her away."

Tav looked away, it was too hard to watch him like this. Watch him suffer the same way she'd had, watch him waste away. The greatest General Antar had seen for lifetimes shattered because of a girl.

She looked to Zan, Zan shook his head slightly. "He hasn't cleaned since they got married, since…."

Tav understood, he wanted to keep her, what little he had left of her on him as long as he could. Until he died.

Abruptly Rath's eyes opened again, the pain so intense she wanted to cry, but she had no tears. He looked straight at Vilandra, fury radiating off of him. "You killed her, you let her be killed."

Tav didn't know what he was talking about, Lonnie hadn't done anything wrong. Vilandra had backed away from the bed as he sat up, not looking as out of it anymore.

"You betrayed me, you betrayed her. You killed my wife." The last part was a scream, agonizingly loud, agonizingly insane.

Vilandra ran from the room as he launched himself at her. Once she was out of sight he seemed to crumple back into himself, sink back into the pit of pain that had become his life. He crumpled to the ground, sitting there breathing hard. Tav knew the symptoms well, your body didn't work as well without a full soul, no stamina.

He looked up, "Why in the abyss is that plant still blooming, she's gone…."

Abruptly he snapped again, whatever icy control he'd once had long gone.

He slammed his fist through the metal cabinet next to him, breaking his own hand. He did it again and again as Zan tried to restrain him, tried to stop the violent motions. Zan got his arms pinned but that didn't stop Rath from trying to slam his head into the cabinet.

Tav stepped forward just in time, catching his head on her thighs, she held it there as she sank down onto her knees. Gently cradling his head in her lap.

The violence stopped abruptly as it had begun, he started to weep, his dry sobs wracking her small frame. Zan kept his hold on him from behind, trying to support him as best he could while he cried, saying the same thing over and over again. "She's gone, she's gone."

They sat like that for a long time, cradling him between them in his grief. It tore Tav up inside to see Rath like this, to see her husband in pain, to remember her own pain. Eventually his moans and shudders ceased and he just lay there. He stood up slowly, not looking at either of them.

He walked over to the bed silently picking up the kitten and cradling it in his arms. He was so vulnerable so open, his thoughts weren't a mystery anymore. Q had loved the cat so he would love it too.

Tav sat down next to him, rubbing his back softly. She looked down at Rath's arm and sighed. "Zan can you give us a minute?"

Her husband nodded, giving her an odd look but left silently.

She let her eyes drift down to his arm again, to the mark the kitten was licking. The Granix symbol that marked it, Rath's own sign intertwined with hers and the symbol of life. She stared at it for a long time, her emotions threatening to overwhelm her. Her own symbol had faded when he died, Rath's hadn't. She stared closer, the circle wasn't broken, it was full, the symbol of eternity. Maybe because his granela was one of the Chosen the symbol didn't fade, or maybe because of her age. Or maybe he just hung on too hard and she hadn't.

Tav sighed, hers had faded slowly, gone in a week. She knew her eyes were dark, she felt the emotion and tightness that indicated it. Slowly she looked back up, his were dark too, they'd been so since they'd come to him. She had a feeling that they'd been dark since she died, and that they'd never go back to normal.

"It's supposed to fade." She whispered, looking at the symbol again.

He looked at her, something akin to sanity in his eyes for once. "No."

She squeezed her eyes shut, the old pain touching her heart again. The old hole in her soul she'd thought she'd covered ripping open again. "Mine faded."

He was silent, and when she opened her eyes he was looking directly at her.

"You understand." His voice was soft, though still raw. Always filled with the pain now..

She nodded, feeling the need to tell him. To distract him from his own pain, like someone had done for her. She couldn't look at his face so she looked at his arm again. He was tracing the mark with the tip of a small knife. Alarm flared in her.

"Where'd you get that?" She questioned while trying to grab the knife, he was suicidal, and he didn't get sharp objects.

He clung to it, choking his words out slowly, as if the mere memory ripped more away from him. "I made it for Q. She….she needs it for protection."

Tav caught the use of present tense, and sighed, the moment of clarity was gone. He was back to his insanity, his fantasy because he couldn't deal with reality.

"You can't keep it, you'll hurt yourself." She said softly, trying to ease it from his grasp.

His laugh was bitter, the laugh of someone who already knew all the pain the world had to give. "She already hurt me, she died. I died with her."

Tav closed her eyes, part of her had died with him. The part of her soul that he had was gone forever, and now she wasn't whole, but she was still alive.

"You're not dead, Rath. And I won't let you kill yourself."

For a second he looked like he was going to start screaming again, she held her breath, but he managed to control the urge. Then his face changed, he was furious, angry all over again. "She killed me, she took my soul."

Tav sighed, first he was in denial now he was angry with his dead wife for doing this to him. "Your souls were one. You still have part of her."

He shook his head bitterly, some of the fury draining away as fast as it had come. "She took it all."

"So you'll just die?"

His black eyes met hers, the yawning hole of an inferno in his gaze. "Yes."

The kitten mewed a denial at him and he shoved it off the bed. His earlier feelings for it gone, just like everything else. He was so transient now.

Tav sighed, he needed a reason to live. An inspiration, it was time someone knew. She pulled him down next to her on the bed so that they were lying there, her curled up against his back.

"No, you won't. You'll go on living because you don't have a choice. It'll hurt, every single second, but she'd want you to. You'll see her face in every woman you look at, and feel her memories everywhere but you'll get used to the pain. You won't want to sleep because she'll be there when you do, and you won't want to wake because she won't be there. The hole inside of you will slowly heal, cover itself to where you barely notice that part of you is gone. Slowly your soul will mend, patching up the holes he left, replacing what he took. And eventually you'll wake up one morning and he won't be the first thing you think about, you'll notice the world again. You'll start to feel the sun, hear the music, but you'll still think of him everyday. Eventually you'll find someone else that loves you, and eventually you may love them back."

She stopped, she couldn't go on. It was too much, she'd had the memories buried for so long. God, she missed him, all she'd ever wanted was him, but he'd died in that stupid duel and left her alone. He'd left her alone and she'd been sent to Antar to escape the scandal, to escape her memories. To escape his ghost, but he'd followed her.

Tav let the dry sobs wrack her body as she clung to his back, she knew he was crying too but she couldn't help him. Her own pain was too much, and he would feel it all, he was feeling it now. She'd kept it inside too long, let it bottle up, tried to forget and now it was coming back.

Slowly her own sobs subsided, and she could focus on Rath again. She rolled him over so that he was facing her. She said the words she knew she'd come to regret, "I'll give you something to live for."

He lifted his head, the shaking stopping, "What?"

And she gave advice she'd never thought she'd give. "Revenge. Kill them all, kill everyone who ever hurt her, kill the ones who took her away."

Sanity flowed back in his eyes, rivers at a time.

"Vengeance." He agreed angrily, already starting to make his plans.

She had the nasty feeling she'd just created a mass murderer, but then again he was a General so wasn't he already one by virtue of the job? But she didn't regret it, they deserved to suffer, and he looked more like Rath than she'd seen all day. A crazy, hell bent Rath, but still Rath.

She pushed it home, grabbing the tray of food. "You have to be strong."

"Stronger than them," he agreed still with that overwhelming fury as he began to tear into the food.

She watched him eat, carefully slipping the knife he'd had into her robe. He abruptly looked up at her, after giving his new cat ally some food. He'd find a way that the kitten could help him, Tav knew by the way he was sizing it up. If he deserved vengeance then apparently so did the little kitten that'd lost her owner.

He looked up at her, a familiar steely look back in his broken, dark eyes. Not a look of control, no he would never have that again, but a look of determination. "You can leave, I have plans to make."

She knew when she'd been dismissed so she rose, taking the now empty tray of food with her. She kissed his forehead gently, noting he had some of Q's clothing tucked in his jacket. Dimly she noted that Rath hadn't said her name, he probably never would again. Tav understood, she hadn't said his since he died. It didn't mean she didn't think it all the time, Kelar.

She went to the hall, Zan was waiting for her. He looked at the empty tray in surprise, "You got him to eat?"

She nodded, giving it to him. She was suddenly very tired, dealing with Rath had taken everything from her.

"How?"

She leaned against her husband, "I gave him something to live for."

Zan smiled into her hair, "What was that?"

She knew he wouldn't like it, "Vengeance."

Zan's smile dropped off his face, and he paled. "What have you done?"

……………..

"Mr.Guerin?" a voice called from behind them.

They spun around, Kyle groaned, it was the principle.

"Mr.Valenti, Mr.Guerin.' He nodded at them, so they nodded back.

"I have some good news for you, Michael." The small little man said.

Michael scratched his eyebrow, "What's that?"

Kyle was impressed, he sounded semipolite.

The principle smiled at them, "You're starting your community service tomorrow afternoon. You can come to my office immediately after school."

A flash of panic touched Michael's face before he controlled it and Kyle understood completely. Michael couldn't be stuck doing community service, tomorrow, not while there was a possible Maria stalking alien on the loose.

"I have to work." Michael lied smoothly.

The principle made a face, "Mr.Parker said you weren't on shift for tomorrow at the Crashdown."

Michael blinked, he obviously hadn't expected the principle to call. Then he managed another lie, "I'm not supposed to work, but the other cook asked me to cover his shift so he can take his kid to the doctor."

Michael gave an odd smile/grimace, "Wouldn't want to let down a friend."

Kyle rolled his eyes, it was definitely the last part that did Michael in. It was so obviously a lie that Michael could have claimed to be a pink elephant.

The principle shook his head, "That's really too bad. I'm sure he has other friends who can help him out. So in my office after school….unless of course you'd like me to reconsider pressing charges."

Kyle had sudden inspiration, "But Mrs.DeLuca is going to be so upset. She was going to have me and Michael alien wrestle in a tournament for her store, for the tourists. We were supposed to do it right after school since Michael's shift didn't start until 5…"

Michael brightened, "Yeah, you can call her if you'd like."

The principle gave them a sardonic look, "I'm sure Mrs.DeLuca would confirm your story, but in the off chance it is true she'll just have to find another wrestler. Now why don't you give me the real reason you don't want to do it tomorrow."

Michael rubbed his face, this was turning into a nightmare. Nightmare, that was it.

He looked around to make sure nobody was listening, then stepped closer to the principle. "Look sir, Maria's been having some issues dealing with the attack. Nightmares, not sleeping, not eating, and I don't like leaving her alone. She starts to freak, and tomorrow will be a two weeks from the attack and with the rumors that Victor is gonna get out of jail…."

He paused, taking a breath. "I'd be happy to make the service this weekend."

Kyle held his breath as the principle looked at them, finally the principle smiled. "If your really worried about Maria being alone you can tell her she's welcome to join us tomorrow afternoon. And if she doesn't want to, I'm sure Mr.Valenti here will look after just fine."

And he turned and walked away..

"What are we gonna do? You can't go tomorrow…but you can't go to jail either." Kyle said.

Michael gave a nasty smile, "Well if I can't think of anything I hope Nacedo likes community service."

Kyle grinned back. Michael started walking off.

"Where are we going?" Kyle asked as he stomped after Michael.

Michael spared him a glance, "To take care of something."

Kyle decided Michael really needed to stop being so darn shady, "Gee, thanks Shaggy, that really cleared things up."

Michael rolled his eyes, but it still managed to put him in a slightly better mood. "We're gonna take care of Courtney, ok?"

Kyle nodded, he didn't really feel like helping Michael kill a girl but she'd purposely gotten Maria hurt so he'd deal.


	23. Chapter 18

AN: Ok, I'll be on a super long roadtrip for the next 2.5 weeks so the story will be on hiatus till i get back, just a heads up. Now I'd like to thank ya'll for the lovely reviews!

Teepot: Thanks for taking the time to really think about the review! I'm happy you like Kyle and that he's distracting...he keeps the fic from getting to angsty, just like ke kept the show light. As for him and Tess there is a discussion in this part about them. As for you thinking of Michael as Rath...well its part of the point, he's not really just Michael anymore. He's changed, they all have!

spikesdreamer: Thanks for the review! I love writing the past scenes and making them really detailed..

higherbeingfriendsfan: Lovely review, Michael and Maria are so impulsive. He can talk her out of breaking up with her one minute then be a total ass the next, Maria's hte same way... It's how they are in the show and I wanted to show that. Isabel is protective of Michael in the show and I can see her extending that to Liz doing Michael bashing. I really like Tess and I never thought htey showed enough of Tess and Michael interacting on the show, I mean we saw her teaching him with her powers but then they never went anywhere with it...

Magali: Thanks for reviewing here too, I got your questions over at CD.

Candylovin Fehrian: You really hit all of the emotional gamut of the chappie then! Kyle brings the much needed humor to the fic. As for Rath after Q's death, I really wanted to portray how shattered he was. How utterly devastated, it helps explain why he got so angry with her in one of the earlier parts where Q Rath, Maria and Michael are fighting in the DeLuca's living room... I really like showing things from Tess's point of view because shes less biased because she's so new to the group, we see another flashback from her today.. As always, I love the reviews!

Collision Part 18 "Hero of the Day"

_I don't need a card to know you're changing  
or that it's not my fault_

_Give me just a chance to breathe  
This hard to believe  
even though I have known since 14  
Have a little confidence  
I can still be your prince  
even though you are no longer queen_

"_First things last" -Cheswick_

Kyle stopped walking, "How are we gonna get there? Neither of us drove….and no offense but I wouldn't ride behind you on your bike either…"

Michael just looked at Kyle as if he didn't see the problem. Kyle made a face; Michael never saw basic problems in his way. Besides why should not having a ride stop him, it certainly never stopped him before he just kidnapped girls and their cars.

"Isn't that your mustang?" Michael asked stopping abruptly.

Kyle looked over, "Big red?"

They walked closer, "Did you seriously name your car? That's pathetic…"

Kyle ignored him grabbing the note stuck under the windshield.

He flipped it open scanning its contents quickly.

Kyle,

Amy and I brought the car over; we didn't want half of you to be with out a car. Make sure Maria and Michael have rides home along with Tess. Be safe.

Dad

Michael read over his shoulder, "So what about keys?"

Kyle grinned, squatting down. He reached under the car, feeling around until he felt the small magnetized box. He pulled it off, put in the code and took the key out. "Here."

Michael looked impressed, "Nice setup."

Kyle shrugged, unlocking the car. "Let's beat it, I've got to be back for last period. I've got football practice."

Michael scowled at him from the passenger seat. "I thought you just played basketball."

Kyle pulled out of the parking lot. "I normally don't flaunt that I'm on the football team. The basketball team has a much better record."

Michael nodded sagely, "Girls don't like losers….like our football team."

He just nodded; he couldn't argue the truth of what Michael said. "True that, but it does raise the question of why Liz likes Max…."

Michael grinned, it was good to have someone who would side with him over Max. He motioned for Kyle to take a right. "He's got the whole King thing going for him…"

"Point, not that he does much with it."

Michael couldn't agree with Kyle more on that point. "You still got a thing for Liz?"

Kyle started cracking up.

"Are you kidding me? Seriously no way, that's just gross. That…that was just a male ego thing. I couldn't take losing a chick to super quiet, geeky Max Evans. Plus he had this whole secret thing, you all did."

"Yeah, you got kinda super stalkerish on us….then I threw you into a chair."

Kyle almost grinned 'kinda super stalkerish' was totally something Maria had probably said, but then the whole throwing into a chair thing and it was back to Michael again.

Kyle made a face at the memory, that had hurt and that had been a horrible night finding them in a seedy motel room. Then he shrugged. "I totally thought you'd kidnapped Maria to make her a runner in your drug cult / toy. But I'm good now, I mean once I found out Max was an alien king I didn't feel as minimal."

"Drug cult, Kyle? What kind of drugs does Buddha have you do? And toy…..well I wouldn't have minded that." He gave a feral grin and Kyle knew exactly what he wouldn't have minded.

He shrugged, "Yeah there were always rumors about you….like how you were a drug lord and stuff and then there were the rumors DeLuca was on drugs because of all the vial sniffing she does….so I put two and two together."

"Whatever, man. Stop here I don't want to alert her."

Kyle nodded it was the same place he'd stopped when he'd gone to spy on Michael and kill a scorpion. They got out and walked to the house quietly, Kyle went around back while Michael knocked.

Michael knocked 3 times, opening all of his senses. Slowly he eased the door open using his powers to unlock it.

He went inside, ready to battle. "Courtney?"

No answer, Michael was starting to get angry. Who was she to hide from him. He started searching the house.

Empty.

He was so angry, that little wench fled, she ran away. And she would die a painful death for it.

He was in her bedroom and looked at the dartboard with Maria's face on it. He grabbed it and threw it across the room.

It crashed into and broke the slats on the closet.

Kyle appeared in the room, "No C?"

"No." Michael growled.

Kyle took a step away from the angry furious look on Michael's face. He wanted Courtney dead, completely out of his way. And he wanted it now.

To cover his reaction he walked to the closet grabbing the dartboard Michael'd thrown. He looked at the picture of Maria then tossed it to the side. He pulled open the broken closet doors wanting to see what Maria called "The Michael Shrine Where he's like an Alien Elvis for a Creepy Stalkerish Tramp."

"Whoa is she crazy or what?"

Kyle looked closer at the pictures, using the skills he'd learned from his dad. "These are all from the same place."

Michael moved closer to look. He stood behind Kyle, "Let me see."

He grabbed the nearest photo staring intently at it. "The apartment across the street…"

Kyle looked at him, "Let's go."

They went but when they got there it was empty too. There were chairs and couches but little else. Kyle walked over examining the room, he held up a camera, "Looks like this is the place."

Michael nodded, holding up a piece of dried skin. It disintegrated and he wiped his hands on his pants scowling.

They heard a key in the door and both tensed up. Michael threw his hand in the air, ready to explode whoever came in the door. Kyle merely put his fists up, he was ready to fight if need be.

It was Congresswoman Whitaker.

Kyle dropped his dukes in surprise, the Congresswoman was a skin?

She raised her own hand in greeting, "Michael, or should I say General."

Michael felt Rath stir, respond. "Either will do."

She smiled, amused and moved into the room all the while looking warily at his hand. "So you've found our meeting place."

"Nice place to die isn't it?"

Michael sneered it, not entirely sure what had come over him. Or more precisely, he knew exactly what had come over him, it had a name.

Rath.

She managed a smile at the joke, even through the fear she was trying to hide. "I trust your lady is well."

"I wouldn't mention her if I were you." Michael snapped stepping closer, making sure she saw he meant it. So that she could see the anger that roiled inside, see how little mercy he'd give her.

Kyle shuddered at the look on his alien friend's face. It wasn't just Michael, but it wasn't entirely Rath either.

But it was terrifying.

Congresswoman Whitaker had composed herself and merely gave a cool smile in the face of his anger.

"Why not? I'm going to die today anyway."

No one disputed her.

She smiled again, ironically. "She was beautiful, you know. We worshipped the ground she walked on because her songs lifted our hearts. When she talked we listened, we followed who she followed. And she followed you."

She paused, meeting his eyes, letting her words sink in.

"She loved you and that was her downfall. She died for you, and you wasted it. And she'll die again-"

She paused, blocking the blast he'd sent at her. She continued on more fervently, her belief and devotion to her cause shining through.

"You're cursed, she'll die every time. You can save her though, you just have to kill the King-"

This time she couldn't block what was sent. Congresswoman Whitaker was now a pile of dust, floating around the room. She could talk about Maria but she couldn't mention making him choose between her and his King.

Kyle looked over at Michael, he looked dead, icy, completely empty. Kyle looked back to the dust swirling, feeling the same curious emptiness, they'd just killed a woman and he couldn't bring himself to feel guilty. Was this what war felt like?

He walked over to the couch and grabbed the briefcase she'd brought.

"Let's go." His voice was subdued, there was nothing to celebrate here.

Michael nodded, soundlessly, and as silently as they came they left.

………………………………..

Isabel slipped out of Speech and started to walk down the hallway. She needed to find Nicholas, to find out why he would hurt Kyle like that.

The eraser room door opened, as if by its own accord.

Isabel walked over to it, peering in. She called softly, "Nicholas?"

"Isabel." Was his soft reply.

She slipped into the room, shutting the door firmly behind her. He was sitting on a desk, watching her.

"Why did you do that to Kyle? There was no reason to hurt him!" She demanded, Kyle was her friend, he shouldn't be hurt by this.

Nicholas gave her a half smile. "He annoyed me."

She looked at him in disbelief, "He annoyed you? So you fry his brains like an egg? That's horrible!"

He shrugged, "Welcome to war, Princess."

He hopped off the table, "Besides I don't see why you're so upset. It's not like it's a new thing, Michael does it all the time. People annoy him so he cuts them to shreds, he does it to you constantly because you care. And he's always doing it to that blasted girlfriend of his."

Michael was her brother, fury rose in her. He was nothing like that.

"Don't talk about Michael like that, you don't know him. It's a defense mechanism."

He rolled his eyes, still talking in that cool voice. "Save the sermon, Vilandra. He had a bad childhood, big deal he's used to those, don't waste your time pitying him."

She decided to change tactics, "Who was Kyle supposed to be talking to? Maria or Tess?"

He gave her a serpentine smile, "Wrong question, who wasn't he talking to?"

Paranoia wanted to rise in her, what wasn't everyone saying? God she was starting to freak, he was just playing with her.

"He was talking to Maria wasn't he?"

Nicholas shrugged, "You might want to tell 'Shaggy' to watch his girlfriend's back. There are a lot of people who would prefer if she were somewhere else."

"Somewhere else….like dead?" Isabel choked out, she couldn't imagine a world without Maria. They weren't close but the other girl's vibrant personality affected her and he world.

He laughed, a genuine laugh. "No, that would defeat the purpose. Though there are people I wouldn't mind seeing in that state."

"Like Michael." She supplied, feeling a knot in her stomach.

"Yes, but unfortunately that would be too much of a hassle."

She almost smiled, killing Michael would be more than a hassle for anyone.

As if he could read her thoughts he shook his head. "Not killing him, that would be easy. What happened after he died would be the hassle."

Could he be more confusing?

He looked at her as though she were a particularly slow piece of driftwood. "If I kill him he just gets reincarnated because of that stupid curse. Chances are it'll happen back on Antar and then not only do the people have him to rally behind I also have to deal with a new reincarnation, probably a stronger nastier one than Michael."

Stronger and nastier than Michael, Isabel couldn't imagine anyone like that. Michael always seemed so extreme. Her thoughts must have showed on her face because he sighed.

"He's a rather weak incarnation of the soul that's in his body, partially because he's human and partially because they tried to split his essence between him and his dupe. Michael I can read and manipulate, if he dies I have to learn how to do it all over again."

She was confused again, "Then what about Fonbar? Doesn't he want Michael dead?"

Nicholas shrugged, "Doesn't really matter. He's just a pawn."

"Why are you telling me all of this?" She asked him, he had to know she would just tell Michael and Max.

"Because history always repeats itself. You may think you're free, but you'll always be ours. Vilandra remembers me and Kivar and she'll do anything to keep that dream alive."

Someone stirred in Isabel, reacting to Nicholas's words. Isabel tried to deny it, this was her life.

He laughed again, "Don't fight her pet, it'll only hurt worse. You should just join me now…"

"No, I love my family. I'll fight you to the end." She was adamant, she would.

His face was cold now, "Fine, then go. But you'll find when you go to tell Max and Michael you can't say the words, you'll see that what rages in you is stronger…"

She ran.

……………….

Michael, Max and Alex sat in the bleachers watching Kyle practice football. Alex fiddled with the camera he had in front of him.

"What are you doing, Alex?" Max asked curiously eyeing the video camera.

Alex sat back down, "Filming practice for the video tech department. The football team makes a highlight video every year and needed some of the practices filmed."

Michael and Max just stared at him, their opinions of him obvious on their faces.

"It's not nerdy! It's for the computer department…." Alex protested.

"Whatever, we've got bigger fish to fry." Michael announced.

Max's face sharpened, "What happened? Is Maria ok?"

Michael gave a half smile at Max's concern for Maria. "Would I be sitting here if it was about Maria?"

Both Alex and Max looked momentarily relieved at his response. The truth of the statement calming their taut nerves.

"Ok, so if it's not Maria, what is it?" Alex asked.

Michael reached around and grabbed Kyle's backpack; he opened it and pulled out the briefcase.

"Two things. Courtney is missing and Whitaker was a skin."

"Was?" Max asked sharply.

At the same time, Alex looked confused. "Liz's boss?"

Michael's face remained impassive; "She's dust now. Kyle and I went to Courtney's first, she wasn't there but I noticed all of her shrine pictures were from the apartment across the street from mine."

"So you went barging in." Max supplied in a weary voice, he knew Michael too well. And Kyle couldn't be counted on to stop him, probably joined in wanting to play hero.

Michael shrugged, "We were careful. It was empty then Whitaker showed up. She said it was their meeting place. Then she threatened Maria so I took care of her."

Max nodded thoughtfully, noting the lack of regret and guilt in Michael's voice. It was totally different from when he'd killed Pierce.

"So now we know where they meet. Nice job. But what's that?"

"Her briefcase. I want to go through it."

"Wait, aren't you, like, going to get all angry with Michael for rushing in and doing something impulsive and taking Kyle along with him? Or am I in an alternative universe?" Alex asked looking back and forth, thoroughly bewildered by the events.

Michael's hackles raised but Max kept the same calm look on his face. "No, I'm not. What's done is done and Kyle can take care of himself. Things are different now, we're at war and I trust Michael to make the right calls."

Michael's face changed a look of shock crossing his features for a millisecond. He'd expected Max to yell at him and was ready for it. He'd always felt that he constantly disappointed Max, that Max would never understand rushing in and following his instincts. But for once, for the first time, Max wasn't angry, disappointed or upset; he understood and gave his blessing. Maybe because they'd fought last time, maybe because Max finally realized that it wasn't going to always get done his way. This was a new point I Michael and Max's relationship, a good one.

Their eyes met and Max nodded once, he meant what he said. Michael nodded back, the ghost of a smile playing on his face.

"Ouch." Alex said wincing, staring at the football field.

"What?" Max asked.

Alex motioned to the field where one of the guys was still slowly getting off the ground. "Remind me to never piss Paulie off…."

Michael just shrugged, "Welcome to the wonderful world of contact sports."

Max nodded; Alex needed to watch more hockey if he was going to roll with them.

"Let's see what's in this thing."

He opened the latch and handed out the different contents. To Alex he gifted the CD, and to Michael a stack of papers. He kept the folder for himself.

Alex looked at the CD for a second then rooted around and produced his own CD player. He stuck the disk in and hit play, listening intently.

Max opened his folder. It was all pictures, surveillance pictures of all of them. They were all sitting in the Valenti's living room. Kyle and Alex making faces at each other. Kyle and Tess wrestling, Liz and Maria working at the Crashdown. He and Isabel eating dinner with their parents. Michael and Maria getting hot and heavy on the DeLuca's couch. Max smiled at that one.

He nudged Michael, handing him the picture. Michael looked at it and scowled but soon was smirking.

"Maybe you should start shutting the blinds." Max suggested in an amused voice.

Michael gave a brief nod and shoved the picture in his pocket. 'Maybe we should eliminate all of the spies."

"What?" Alex asked popping the headphones off.

"Nothing." Michael said, Alex didn't need to see his picture.

"What's on the CD?" Max asked before Alex's curiosity got him a punch in the face from Michael.

Alex shrugged, letting it go. "Liz's conversations at work, she's been recording her phone calls."

"Nothing we can do about that." Michael said, dismissing it.

"But this is worthless, it's like case files or something." He said tossing down his papers.

"Let me see." Max demanded, handing Alex the folder of pictures.

Max flipped through the files; they were personnel files of different people. He quickly flipped through all of them, stopping at Courtney's.

"Michael do you realize what these are?" Max asked getting excited.

'No." was the short answer he got.

Alex choked on his orange soda, "Oh god."

"What?" Max asked grabbing the picture.

He stared at it, fury rising in him; it was a picture of his sister changing in her room. Michael glanced at the picture.

He turned to Max with an amused expression, parroting him. "Maybe she should shut the blinds."

Max scowled at Michael's amusement and turned the photo to ash. He then saw Alex's devastated expression and his Michael-esque scowl deepened.

"So, um, what are those?" Alex asked, nervously gesturing to the files in Max's hand. He was terrified Max, or Michael, would kill him for looking at that picture of Isabel.

Max gave a small grin, "A list of our enemies. It looks like these are files on all the skins."

Alex let out a long slow whistle. This was a gold mine.

Michael looked fairly stunned, but then Rath's old military training kicked in. "Everyone memorizes all of the faces. I want the whole group to have sight recognition for safety purposes. I also want copies given to Nacedo and the Sheriff. They can probably help narrow them down, I'm sure there are some outstanding warrants."

Max nodded slowly, "Good plan. After this Alex and I will go to kinkos and make copies for everyone of all this stuff."

"I'll need to assess the greatest threats, so bring it by the Crashdown when you're done."

"Liz will have a field day with this." Alex exclaimed, thinking of how she would organize and color code all of the info.

Kyle walked up to the them, practice had ended and he'd showered without them noticing. "What's going on?"

"We went through the briefcase." Michael informed him.

"Well Shaggy, what were the Scooby clues found?"

Max rolled his eyes; Kyle needed serious mental help. He held up a file. "Files on all the skins."

Kyle's eyes widened, "I think this deserves Scooby snacks. Especially for me since I picked the briefcase up."

"Shut up, Kyle." Michael said rising. He looked at Alex and Max.

"We'll be at the Crashdown."

"For Scooby snacks." Kyle added.

Michael rolled his eyes and they descended the bleachers. Alex grinned at Max. "They're kind of cute together."

Max grinned back, "Yeah, when Michael isn't threatening him…."

………

"Here's your fries," Liz said plopping down the plate in front of Isabel and Tess.

"Thanks, so Liz how do you feel about highlights?" Isabel asked looking up form the chart she was making.

"Uh." Liz had a blank look on her face.

"I don't?" she tried.

Isabel merely nodded and made a notation on her sheet. She ran her finger down the chart finding what she wanted she looked up but Liz cut her off.

"I've got to get back to work." She said before scampering away.

Tess looked up form the math homework she was doing, "What are you doing, Iz?"

Isabel smiled, "Liz and I are doing makeovers tonight, this is a chart of things to possibly try on her."

Tess repressed her laughter; Isabel really took personal appearance seriously.

Isabel eyed her critically, then a cat like smile spread across her face. "You and Maria should join us!"

Tess laughed, Isabel was sweet and she couldn't wait to see what Liz looked like. "Maybe next time, we have to supervise Michael, Kyle and probably the Sheriff and Mrs.DeLuca. While I could probably bully Kyle into coming to a makeover, Maria has no chance with Michael. He'd rather lock her up."

Isabel laughed too, "Nope, I remember when I first started getting into makeup I tried to get Michael to let me practice on him…"

"What happened?" Tess asked eagerly, she couldn't imagine Michael at any age tolerating make up on his face.

Isabel was cracking up now, "He locked himself in Max's closet for hours."

"Who locked themselves in Max's closet?" Maria asked stealing a fry.

Tess looked at the bobbly antennae and grinned.

"Michael…." She said in a sing song voice.

"I tried to put make on him when we were little." Isabel explained helpfully at the blank but amused look on Maria's face.

Maria's face lit up with her laughter.

"Michael wearing makeup..!" she gasped it out between giggles, then doubled over completely lost to her mirth.

"What's so funny?" Michael asked from behind her.

"Oh, Spaceboy." Maria said straightening up, wiping tears from her eyes.

She went up on her tippy toes and gave him a smacking kiss on his cheek.

Kyle slid into the booth next to Tess, snaking some fries. He watched the two of them like it was a movie.

Michael looked down at the still very amused Maria, "So does this mean you aren't mad at me anymore?"

She blinked at him, shrugged, smiled. "Yep!"

And she flounced off to get back to work. Michael watched her bounce away then shaking his head sat down next to Isabel. He didn't get her half the time but that was all right by him.

"Bring me some Scooby snacks, woman!" Kyle yelled after the retreating Maria.

"How was practice, Kyle?" Tess asked, slapping his hand away from her food and frowning at him.

He shrugged, "Not nearly as exciting as earlier."

Isabel raised her eyebrow at Michael. He explained, "We'll all have some extra homework, memorizing and reading up on our enemies."

They boys filled them in on the specifics but the whole time Tess couldn't focus on what Michael was saying. She just kept seeing the broken, insane, shattered boy that Rath had been at the end.

It shook her and it made her wonder how Michael would react to losing Maria, if it would be as deadly or intense even without the bond.

Snap.

Tess started, Kyle was snapping in front of his face. "Are you ok, Tess? You've been staring at Michael for 5 minutes now."

He sounded slightly hurt, slightly worried.

She was momentarily saved from answering by the reappearance of Maria. She put a burger down in front of Kyle and one in front of Michael, even though he hadn't asked for anything.

Michael looked down at his food, "What the hell is this?"

Maria smiled happily at him, "I decorated it for you!"

He stared at the two little alien flags sticking out of his bun, as eyes and the smile she'd made out of a pepper. She was messing with him and he knew it. He looked up at his girlfriend, utterly confused and slightly scared. "I can see that."

She stood there waiting expectantly for him to say something else, "It's nice?"

She beamed at him, apparently he'd said the right thing. He just hoped she never did that to his food again. "It's on the house….but you can give me a tip later if you want…"

He looked at her again, this time actually happy. He knew exactly what kind of tip to give her. "Definitely."

She flounced off, Isabel turned to Michael who was now eating his smiley burger. "Your girlfriend is weird, you know that?"

Kyle looked up, in a mock hurt tone he exclaimed "I think it's kind of cute. I mean nobody draws smiley faces on my food…"

Tess reached around him, grabbed the ketchup and drew a large smiley face in ketchup on his burger. She gave a very self-satisfied smile.

Kyle grinned, "Uh, Thanks Tess."

Isabel rolled her eyes, they were like little kids who didn't know how to show that they liked each other.

Tess calmly went back to staring at Michael with a melancholy expression on her face.

"Stop staring at me." Michael snapped at her after a minute, he wanted to eat his burger in peace.

Her cheeks reddened, "Sorry, I just had a flash today and looking at you reminds me of Rath."

"Whatever, just stop it." Was Michael's response, but you couldn't hear it over Kyle.

"ooh, story time! I love hearing about the alien soap opera that was your lives…" he exclaimed sarcastically clapping his hands.

Tess didn't say anything, it hadn't been a happy flash. Seeing Rath crushed was far from happy, it was completely depressing.

"Well, what was it about?" Isabel queried, looking up from her chart intently.

Tess squirmed in her seat, unable to repress the shiver that ran down her spine.

"We went to visit Rath, to take care of him…because…. Because Q had died." She said it softly, watching the spasm of pain that crossed Michael's face. For a second she saw how Rath had been at the end in his eyes, staring back out at her.

Tess felt her eyes tighten with suppressed tears so she looked away, rubbing her eyes furiously. Q had died, so had the rest of them, but they were all alive now and she needed to remember that.

Michael got up roughly and left the table.

Nobody said anything as they watched him go. Isabel started to rise but Kyle shook his head,.

"Look." He commanded.

So she did, Michael was standing by himself in the corner of the room, leaning up against he wall in an inconspicuous but slightly threatening pose. He was staring intently at Maria. Watching her every move and every gesture with an excruciating longing laced with an old pain in his dark eyes. It was obvious to anyone who knew him that he was upset.

Isabel looked at Kyle and Tess, "He shouldn't be alone right now."

She started to stand again but Kyle grabbed her wrist.

"You're not the one he needs right now."

His voice was firm, letting her know the brutal honest truth.

Isabel nodded, Kyle was right. Michael could take care of himself, he was a big boy.

"So what was it like, why is Michael so upset?" Kyle asked part in curiosity and part in concern, he was Michael's human partner and wanted to know if he was gonna get fried.

Tess gave Kyle a sad smile, "He was crazy, completely insane. He either screamed, cried, tried to kill himself or wavered between denial and anger. It was horrible…."

She trailed off watching Kyle's eager puppy face drop away and turn into a somber expression. She looked away, back at Michael, feeling pensive. She watched Maria notice Michael watching her upsetly and go over to give him a quick hug before getting back to work.

After his quick pick me up hug from Maria Michael came back over to their table in a slightly less bitter mood. Alex and Max showed up around the same time carrying several folders, "We come bearing gifts!"

And the group fell into a discussion about their enemies and newfound information.

…………

Tess and Maria were in Maria's room getting ready for bed.

"So what's the deal with you and Kyle?' Maria asked while gently running the brush through Tess's hair.

Tess's cheeks pinkened and she shifted in her seat at Maria's vanity. Maria smiled at her in the mirror from her position behind her, "Soo.."

Tess giggled, "I like him…"

"I knew it" Maria crowed, giving the other girl a hug from behind.

"And…" she queried, she wanted to know whether she could expect to start catching Tess and Kyle sneaking into the eraser room.

Tess was quiet for a moment thinking, then in a more serious tone she began talking choosing her words carefully. "I really like him but…but I don't want to be with Kyle yet.."

"Why not?' Maria asked genuinely confused, it tore her up when she and Michael were apart.

Tess turned around in her seat so that she was looking at Maria face to face. "Because if I do I won't be Tess, I'll be Tess-according-to-Kyle."

"Explain chica,. I'm not following."

"All of my life I've tried to be, and been, exactly what others wanted. Nacedo raised me to be self-sufficient and invisible, to only thinking of finding Max. So I dreamed that Max was my salvation, the love I'd used to have, that he would take care of me. So when I met Max it was all about being what he wanted, being Tess-according-to-Max so I wouldn't be alone. And now… now it's different."

Tess was upset, almost overcome with all of this. She'd never told anyone this before and it felt good to get it off her chest and Maria wasn't judging, she was just listening. Maria gave her an encouraging smile, "How is it different?"

Tess gave a tentative smile back, "I met all of you, I met Max and he wasn't what I'd dreamed of. And I saw you girls, you Liz, Isabel being yourself, not defined by a guy. Then destiny went kaput and I lost faith in Nacedo. I realized I didn't have to define myself by other peoples' dreams. Recently, I've gotten close to people and started to be who I want to be, the Tess I've always wanted to be."

Maria nodded, "And you're afraid that if you and Kyle become something you'll slip into your old ways and just try to be whatever he wants."

Maria understood, understood exactly. Tess nodded at her with a brilliant smile, "Exactly, so I want to be just Tess for awhile so that if I become a part of Tess and Kyle I'll be who I am he'll like me for who I am not who I'm pretending to be. I don't want to lose myself when I'm just beginning to find me…"

Maria gave her a sweet smile as they switched positions, "That's really great, Tess. It's great that your finding yourself and it'll make it better, more real, when you and Kyle do get together."

"What do you mean?" Tess asked while starting to brush Maria's hair, sensing she was talking from personal experience.

"I feel like I'm losing myself. I mean I love Michael, but at the same time I feel like I've lost so much. Before…before all the alien stuff I was happy, young, and carefree. Now, now.. I've got all this other stuff going on, a past life, Michael and I don't do what I used to love."

Tess stilled the brush, "What do you feel like you've given up?"

"I don't know, all of my other friends. Singing, my independence. I sued to be Teflon and now .. now when I'm upset I run to Michael. I'm so co-dependent and it terrifies me, especially with this guy coming." Maria confesses flailing her hands as so spoke.

Tess smiled softly as she fluffed Maria's hair. "You're not looking at the whole picture."

"I'm not?"

"No, you're worried so you think of how life used to be. But it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows, you've told me before that before you met Michael you were lonely, always waiting for something to happen."

Maria broke into a relieved smile, "You're right, besides I do kind of love this ridiculous alien soap opera of a life. But I still wish I could find myself."

"Is it worth it, to give up Michael? Is trying to be who you once were more important than who you are now?"

Maria was quiet for a moment. "No, it's not. Its Michael now, if never get to do what I once loved it would be worth it. If Q hadn't happened, I might have said yes. But not now, now I know better."

Tess smiled, she'd made the right call. "Why can't you do both? There are things I used to do when I lived with Nacedo that I still want to do and things I want to try."

"Like what?" Maria asked.

"I used to do photography, it was something I could do no matter where we were. And I want to try out for a team or something, I've never been allowed to be in any clubs."

Tess smiled a brilliant smile jumping up and down, "I've got an idea. Look, why don't you start singing again? It's part of who you were and its something that's you without Michael!"

Maria broke out into a matching smile, she turned around in the chair grabbing Tess's hands. "You think I could? I mean there is all this stuff going on…"

"But it doesn't have to be our entire lives…."

"Yeah! But what about you? Oooh wait! There's a photography club at school!"

Tess bit her lip, feeling a sudden nervousness. "I think I'll join that or yearbook! A club! Hoorah! And if you ever need back on stage I play a mean tambourine!"

Maria laughed, "Of course! Do you think we can make Kyle into a drummer? We could totally have a Scooby band."

"Maria DeLuca and the Kids from the Mystery Van!"

They both started cracking up and Maria pulled Tess into a hug.

"What about Michael?" Maria asked, Michael came from the mystery van too…

Tess bit her lip in thought then she grinned, "Security!"

At the same time Maria was exclaiming, "Body guard!"

They laughed again then Maria smiled. "Liz could keep the books and keep us all organized. Alex would have to be on guitar."

Tess kept the thought going, "Isabel could be our announcer and publicity while Max could get us gigs. He could be manager and work with Liz if we couldn't turn him into a guitarist."

After the giggles subsides Maria looked at Tess, "We're seriously troubled…"

Tess agreed with a yawn, "Way to much Kyle and Alex exposure."

Maria yawned too and they turned off the lights. Both girls climbed into Maria's bed feeling better than they had all day.

"Night, Maria."

"Night. Oh and Tess?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

Tess understood, and was happy. They were happy, they were both on the way to being whom they wanted to and they were doing it together.

……………

Maria woke up in the middle of the night. The nightmares had been worse tonight and it was all she could do to lay, with her back to Tess, crying silently. She wanted to scream, she wanted to beat her head against the wall, but the despair was too much so she just let the tears roll down.

She didn't want to wake Tess so she silently got out of bed, the tears making rivers down her cheeks. She headed to the bathroom, not noticing Tess's own distress, but when she looked in the mirror she couldn't stand the broken expression on her face.

Her first instinct was to go and crawl into Michael's arms, seek safety and reassurance that he was still alive. But watching him sleeping in the front room, sprawled across the couch he and Kyle had fought so hard not to get until Mrs.DeLuca had given Kyle the pull out sofa against Michael's very loud protests, she couldn't.

She couldn't do it, couldn't crawl into his arms and wake him up. He looked so hard in his sleep, so unmoving, not the vulnerable childlike look most people had. He looked harder and it made Maria wonder what he was dreaming of to make him look like that, wonder if Rath's life haunted his dreams. He needed to sleep, not to hear her problems and how she worried he would die. He needed his own bit of peace not her distress and tears.

And she needed to be stronger, to take care of her own pain for once, to find somewhere she could cry it out alone in silence. Somewhere she could let the grief over take her, run its course and get out of her system.

The moon caught her eye, the glowing luminosity mocking her. The moon was almost full, and it made her shiver. The full shining had brought his death last time and she wondered if the curse on Rath would hold true under a different moon.

Entranced by the moon she slipped into the backyard, settling into a lawn chair. Her tears were still coming; it was as though they wouldn't stop, as though she had no control over herself or her despair.

"You know what will happen."

It came from the shadows, causing Maria to look up; her tears were coming harder now. The truth of the statement cutting her to the bone, reverberating from her own dreams, the truth she didn't want to acknowledge.

Dimly she felt alarm but couldn't reach through the despair that clutched her to do anything about it, she didn't matter anymore, just that Michael couldn't die.

Nicholas stepped forward, the moonlight making his face harsh shadows and lines.

"You've seen it, he dies."

She was sobbing now; the vague images form her dream haunting her. He'd died; it was all she saw when she closed her eyes now.

"I can't lose him! You don't understand.." She exploded through her tears, talking from the heart. She wasn't sure what he didn't understand, but he was just so cold. So unemotional, so untouched by love, that he couldn't understand what it was like to lose your whole world. To see it every time you close your eyes, to know that you'll be utterly alone.

"I don't understand? I don't understand?" He raged, intensity and emotion replacing the distant amusement that colored his voice for once.

"You want to know about losing someone, losing a part of you? I'll tell you. You were dead and Rath.. Rath was completely insane. My little brother, only 6 cycles, was at one of the camps with the religious leaders and women and children along with the soldiers. He'd come to visit me, but I was away. There were 300 of them in all and an Earth animal wandered into the camp. A kitten, and while everyone was fascinated by it Rath snuck in, full of power. He was holding more power than I've ever seen, more than anyone should ever hold. And he released it, all of it, exploded out of him. Everyone died, the land, animals, women, children, my little brother. My brother!"

He gave a bitter laugh, choking on the emotions of so long ago. The memory eating its way out of him.

"When we got there he was just sitting there in the middle of all this destruction talking to that fracking cat. While my brother lay 8 feet away, dead." His voice had almost risen in pitch, the intensity deafening.

So he understood, but all she cared about was Rath. She knew she sounded slightly desperate, but Michael had to have a happy ending to this horrible story. "What happened to Rath?"

Another bitter laugh.

"Even now he's all you are about." He shook his head.

"Vilandra took him back to the palace, she wouldn't let me kill him." He sounded like a petulant child denied his favorite toy. It chilled Maria because she knew that in the end he'd gotten his revenge, he'd killed Rath just like he'd killed her.

He came back to himself, to the cool amusement and disdain. "But it doesn't matter, he'll be killed tomorrow."

"No, he'll win!" Maria said adamantly, ready to believe. Needing to believe.

Nicholas shook his head, touching her cheek as though she were a naïve innocent girl.

"Do you really think I'll let that happen? I can ruin his mind, make him think our dead, make him kill the King. …..Unless of course you take the deal."

"No" she cried through her sobs, falling to her knees. Michael didn't want her to take the deal, and she would honor that.

Strengthening her voice she realized something.

"You won't, you can't. If you could you would have done it already."

Fury swept across his features at her realization, crushing her tentative joy.

Then he smiled, reaching out to grab her head.

"Maybe not, but I can do it to you."

Maria screamed soundlessly as images rushed into her mind. Thousands of visions of Michael dying, Michael dead and her Fonbar's plaything. Too many for her to process, just so overwhelming that they took everything she knew from her.

Michael bloody on the ground, telling her he loved her as he died.

Michael burned to a crisp.

Her covered in his blood, screaming her head off.

Michael lying in a casket.

Michael's grave.

She heard Nicholas's words as if through a daze. "If he doesn't die, he'll be taken over. A puppet, to use your love, your reactions to him against you."

Michael that wasn't Michael, Michael's face with Fonbar's eyes looking out.

Michael that wasn't Michael hitting her.

He pulled away, his work done. She was a sobbing wreck, she didn't know reality form fiction. Was he alive or was he dead? Was he Michael or not?

She scrabbled away, the pain wracking her as she climbed unsteadily to her feet shaky from the sobs that wouldn't stop.

"You can prevent this…" his voice was coaxing and she clung to it.

Nicholas could make the confusion go away, he could make the pain stop and keep Michael safe. She nodded eagerly, like she told Tess it was all about Michael.

…………

Kyle stood in the doorway to the backyard, he'd heard voices. Maria was standing there sobbing with that snake talking to her.

"What the hell?" He yelled, where was Tess? The lights in the house turned on at his voice.

Maria didn't seem to notice him, she was staring intently at Nicholas with a crazy, fervent look in her eyes. Nicholas merely smiled, Kyle was already too late.

"Take my deal." He commanded her.

Maria was going to do it, Kyle realized. Her mouth was opening and he was too far away.

"Michael forgive me." He muttered and launched himself.

He landed on top of her, tackling her from behind slapping his hand over her mouth. She was struggling underneath him, trying to talk through his hand.

Kyle looked up, Nicholas was right above him looking deadly.

He was going to die and he knew it. But at least he would die protecting Maria, die doing good. Nicholas raised his hand and Kyle sent a quick prayer to Buddha.

"Get away from my wife."

It came from the doorway and Kyle was never happier to hear Michael in his entire life.

"Get. Away. From. My. Wife."

It was like liquid nitrogen; freezing everything. Far colder than Michael ever was and Kyle suddenly felt terrified it was directed at him because he was on top of Maria.

A blast flew over his head, but missed.

Kyle risked a look up, but Nicholas was gone. So Kyle gingerly stood, getting off of Maria as fast as he could. He she lay there so he picked up the still sobbing, thwarted Maria gently. He cradled his almost sister to him and she clung to him, so he started heading towards the house.

Michael strode over to him, meeting him halfway in the moonlit hard. His eyes were completely black and it alarmed Kyle, but he wasn't about to argue with Rath.

He reached out to take Maria but she only sobbed harder, clinging to Kyle's neck cutting off his air supply.

He touched her and she bucked away, almost making Kyle drop her.

"No!" she screeched.

Kyle strengthened his grip, he was going to drop her. He didn't want to drop her, dropping her probably meant a painful death.

Fury flashed in the dark eyes across from him and he ripped Maria away from Kyle.

He held her close, despite her flailing to escape, despite her uncontrollable sobs and incoherent mutterings. Striding back to the house with her he tried to comfort her, humming a tune Kyle didn't recognize, but she wouldn't be placated.

Kyle followed quickly, giving the blurry-eyed Tess a wan smile to let her know he was ok. To let her know he'd been a hero. He'd always wanted to save the world and in a way tonight he had, just not in the way he'd imagined. Tonight he had because to Michael, Maria was his world.

Michael sat down with Maria on the couch but she quickly scrabbled away from him. Scrabbled right over the arm of the couch and up against the wall, looking like a wild animal. She looked completely terrified, like she had no idea who they were or what was happening.

Everyone watched as Michael went over slowly, squatting down next to her, his eyes finally back to normal.

"Maria?" he asked softly reaching out to touch her.

She kicked him and scrambled farther away, hugging the wall.

"You're dead!" she screeched at him, pulling on her hair.

He reached out again and she curled up into a tiny ball trying to get away from him.

Then her mother was there, pulling her into her arms. She was still crying so hard, her terrified vacant eyes intently watching Michael's every move warily.

"Maria, I-"

"DEAD! Puppet!" she howled at him throwing the ring he'd given her at him. It hit him square in the forehead and he carefully picked it up.

"Stay back, just get back, Michael." Amy DeLuca commanded as she half-restrained, half-rubbed her daughter's back.

He backed away, looking terrified, anxious and helpless.

"What's wrong, baby?" She asked, turning her daughter's face to her.

Confusion and depression stared out at her while tears leaped from her eyes.

"He died. He's dying. He's not Michael." Her voice was soft, broken. IT was painfully obvious she had no grasp of anything resembling reality. She was clutching her head tightly, white knuckled.

Amy felt her own tears wet her eyes, she looked up. He didn't need to see this. "Go make tea, Michael."

He didn't move, just kept that broken, scared look on his face.

"Can you do anything?" Kyle asked Tess fervently, Maria was breaking his heart. Tess looked slightly out of it, as though she was having trouble staying awake.

Tess calmly went over to Maria and squatted down next to her friend. "Maria look at me."

Maria obeyed the command, letting Tess turn her face to her own. Tess shut her eyes in concentration and Maria's face momentarily took on a blank look.

Tess pulled away, shaking slightly. What she'd seen had been horrible, reminiscent of Rath's shattered psyche at the end.

She looked at Michael.

"She's been mindwarped."

"Can you fix it?" he sounded desperate, on the edge of losing control.

She shut her eyes for a second, she couldn't comfort him when she had no comfort to give.

"I don't know, I've never seen anything like it, it's completely embedded. Much stronger than I am."

His lips were trembling furiously either from fury or repressed tears she didn't know.

"Call Isabel, maybe she can help me."

Michael nodded, he needed something to do, something to help. He grabbed the phone.

Tess turned her attention back to Maria. She was clutching herself, her nails digging into her arms drawing blood.

She looked like Rath had at the end.

The thought depressed her and stole some of the hope Tess held.

"Maria no!" her mother exclaimed, pulling her hands away.

Tess sighed, this would take everything she had and then some. There was a high probability it would burn her out, she needed an anchor. Someone to call her back if things went wrong, someone who she could follow home.

She looked to Kyle who was talking to his dad, their eyes met. He immediately came over.

"I need you to anchor me." She told him, she needed to start now before the memories became permanent.

He gave her a blank look, she patted his hand. "Just think of me, keep me in you mind so that I can use you to get back."

He nodded, get back from where he wanted to know. But they both saw the hell that burned in Maria's green gaze.

"Tell Isabel to link with me when she gets here."

He nodded, so she grabbed Maria's hand squeezing her eyes hut and began.

First she soothed the hysteria that was blocking her, putting Maria into a blank state so she wouldn't try and fight. It took an amazing amount of constant energy to keep Maria like that, to control the raging emotions. Then she took to carefully pulling away the planted memories, unwinding and uprooting the deep ties that held them there.

It was draining, completely and utterly draining her of strength. She couldn't do both, she couldn't keep Maria calm and undo the mindwarp, but she couldn't let Maria's mind free. She started to lose control, her shaking getting the better of her. But then Isabel was there with her. Her strong mind presence lending strength and instinctively taking over keeping Maria calm with her dreamwalking skills. Isabel pulled Maria's mind away, taking her to a happy calm place in her own mind.

So Tess worked, pulling and unwinding the trap that had been laid. There was always more, always more roots ready to grow if she missed them. She was straining herself, going far past the power she'd always had and into the unknown. She was pulling on a link that was already between them, buried from the past, one that had been established long ago.

A small eternity passed. Finally she felt she had it all, all of the tedious little plants and memories. She'd thrown out the last memory along with the memories of tonight, the hysteria.

Shaking and trembling with the effort she pulled away and out. Tess let go and followed Kyle back to herself, his bright mind helping her muddled senses find her self. Slowly she opened her eyes, everything was blurry, spinning and she was in a cold sweat. Her body had mirrored her mind.

"She'll be fine." She slurred.

And Tess Harding, hero of the day, passed out cold.

………………………

Liz followed Isabel into the DeLucas, wary of what she would find. Liz stared at Maria, curled up against her mother. She looked horrible, dead. She looked like a zombie, her eyes were huge, blank and empty and there was drool running down her chin. It was something, a vision, Liz never wanted to associate with her best friend; one she wished she could forget.

Maria started to mumble to herself and shake, hysteria taking away the blankness in her eyes.

"Deadddd!" she wailed, flailing her arms.

And that stirred Isabel into action, she dropped down next to Tess, grabbing her shoulders. Immediately Maria stilled, back into her blank look.

Liz turned away, she couldn't look at Maria like that, couldn't stand seeing her vibrant friend looking so dead.

Rubbing her eyes furiously she moved over to Kyle.

"What happened?" she asked softly, afraid to stir Maria.

He shifted Tess's weight on his lap; he was holding her up, her chest against his back. Tess looked almost as bad as Maria, sweating and shaking.

Kyle's blue eyes met Liz's; they were filled with horror.

"Nicholas mindwarped her."

Liz nodded; she looked worriedly to Tess. "Where was Tess? Did he get her too?"

Kyle shook his head, blotting sweat off of Tess's face tenderly. "She told my dad that someone was keeping her asleep, locked in her dreams. Now she's trying to fix Maria."

Liz nodded, letting go of the last seed of resentment she'd held towards Tess over Max. To see what helping Maria was doing to her, it made Liz fully and finally trust her and regret how she'd treated the other girl.

Kyle seemed to know what she was thinking because he gave her a smile before turning away.

Liz eyed Maria's long, raggedy curls. Why was it always Maria? Why did all of the pain have to happen to her?

Then she turned to Mrs.DeLuca to see if she could help anywhere, but she was staring intently at something, so Liz turned to follow her gaze with the questions still in her mind.

Michael.

She was staring at Michael and all of Maria's pain suddenly made sense, he was why. They hurt her to get to him, to ruin him. It made her furious, furious that they would use Maria like that and that Michael couldn't protect her.

She stalked over to him, and the Sheriff who was standing next to him with a hand on his shoulder in comfort. It made her anger worse, Michael didn't need comfort, he was why Maria was lying there like that, he needed to slapped.

But then she saw his face and all of her anger, her need to blame him, drained away leaving her empty and compassionate. He looked vulnerable, desperate with longing clearly written on his face as he stared at Maria, as he watched every breath she took. He looked like a broken child with his lips trembling furiously.

Liz looked away for a second; it was too much; he reminded her of how he looked when she found him in the back room leaning over a dying Maria. So she focused on his surroundings, on all the little broken pieces of things that had exploded around him, at his balled fists and tense muscles.

But Liz's eyes went back to his face, back to the overwhelming terror in his too dark eyes. His eyes that weren't Michael and weren't Rath, the eyes that held Michael's fear of losing her and Rath's sadness and terror of losing her again.

Liz looked back at Maria for a second, at the blank look in her eyes and drool coming out of her mouth. Maria would want her to take care of Michael when she couldn't. Michael didn't need to see this, didn't need to see her like that.

Tentatively she reached out and grasped his hand. Surprisingly he let her. Michael didn't like to be touched and Liz definitely wasn't on his approved touching list. The only person whose touch he welcomed was Maria though he'd usually tolerate Isabel and occasionally Max.

But today he didn't protest as she took his hand and led him out of the room, he followed her meekly; needing someone to take control.

"You don't need to see that, " She told him quietly, thinking that not only he didn't need to see it but nobody needed to see him in his present state.

She took him into the kitchen and he sunk down to the ground, leaning against the cabinets. He couldn't handle it any longer, he was losing control.

He started to cry silently, the tears rolling soundlessly down his cheeks. It was the saddest thing Liz had ever seen, it twisted her heart. His face hadn't changed he hadn't turned away from her like she thought he would and Liz wasn't sure if he even knew he was crying.

She stared at him for a second, for as long as she could remember she'd been scared of Michael, intimidated by his gruffness. No more and never again. Now she saw two sides of him she'd never wanted to see.

She saw Michael the broken, abused little boy who'd learned to cry silently because regular crying got him noticed and caused the fists to start flying all over again. She saw Michael the broken child who'd eventually learned to stop crying and lock away all of his emotions because feeling didn't change anything, just made the pain worse.

And she saw Rath, Rath the insane shattered General who'd lost his wife once and was terrified it would happen again. She saw Rath who hated himself, who thought he was a failure because all he'd ever wanted was to keep her safe and he'd failed again. She saw Rath who couldn't bear being helpless, who wanted more than anything to take away all of her pain and die in her place if he had to.

Liz turned away her own lone tear escaping, Michael wouldn't want her to see him crying, she reasoned. She went to the stove and the kettle of hot water someone had put on. She poured a mug and put in a packet of hot chocolate.

After she dissolved it she took it back over to Michael, he was just sitting there still staring straight ahead with tears all over his face. She knelt in front of him, wrapping his hands around the mug.

"Drink this." She commanded gently, but he didn't move.

A noise caught her attention and she looked up, Max was there. They'd gotten the hurried note she and Isabel had left them. Max took one look at Michael and hurried over, squatting down next to him.

Liz sighed in relief, this was who Michael needed, not her. Max was his brother, this life and the last and he could take care of Michael. Max's eyes met Liz's, letting her know he had it. She scrabbled to her feet at his unspoken request to be alone with Michael.

She hadn't comforted Michael, but there was one thing she could give him so she ran down the hallway to Maria's room. She grabbed Maria's big stuffed polar bear, it was her favorite. She always slept with it and used it for comfort; Michael could do the same. Liz hugged it to her chest as she ran back, it smelled like Maria.

She slipping into the kitchen, Max was sitting on the ground next Michael drinking the hot chocolate. He was talking soothingly to Michael about how Maria would be ok; just like he'd done so many years ago when Rath had been worried Q would die. It all came full circle for them.

Liz squatted down in front of Michael thrusting the polar bear at him desperately; she wanted to help him. She needed to help him, because if she did in her mind it was like helping Maria.

"Here."

He took it from her in one jerky movement clutching it to his chest. He took a deep breath inhaling the Maria scent in it and started to sob burying his face in it. A true release, not the guarded silent half tears he'd been crying earlier.

Liz watched Max pull him into a tight hug as she slipped out of the kitchen.

She went back to the front room, sitting down on the couch in between the Sheriff and Kyle. The Sheriff gave her a wan smile, and Liz wondered what he was doing there.

"How's Michael?"

"He's with Max." she responded curling up against Alex for comfort. She'd comforted Michael and now it was her turn.

He nodded at her words as if it explained everything and in a way it did.

The three of them sat there for the next hour in silence until Alex decided he needed a drink. What he really needed was a distraction, a moment away from staring at Maria.

After a minute he came back out of the kitchen carrying drinks for all of them, after he dropped one off at Kyle and Mrs.DeLuca he came back over.

"How's Michael?" Liz asked him softly.

He shrugged, "Looks like shit. He and Max are just sitting there exploding sugar cubes and taking swigs out of a tobasco bottle."

What on Earth?

Then it hit her, Max's way of comfort was distraction. Drinking beer and shooting empty bottles alien style, tobasco and sugar cubes. Plus it had the benefit of letting Michael take out his anger, and release his crazy powers in a controlled atmosphere supervised by Max.

They settled back in to the silence, Liz focusing her energy into making little keychains with all of the skins pictures on them so they had an easy flip wheel for confirmation. Maria seemed to be sleeping now, looking a lot better. Isabel was sleeping too, though looking strained.

But Tess, Tess looked horrible, her skin was going gray and she was drenched in sweat. Kyle was mopping her brow with a cool towel to try and ease some of her discomfort. Liz looked at the clock; it had been almost two hours since they'd gotten there.

Isabel stirred and Liz yelled into the kitchen, dropping her work, "They're starting to come around!"

Max and Michael appeared instantly in the doorway, Max looked concerned. And Michael looked anxious; he bore the evidence of his tears and was still clutching the polar bear to his chest like a lifeline.

Isabel opened her eyes, put her hand to her forehead and gingerly sat up.

"How is she?" Michael demanded gruffly, frozen in place by his fears.

Isabel blinked, looking exhausted. "Sleeping, I don't think she'll remember anything. She was completely fried."

It was a bad word choice but Michael, nonetheless, looked relieved. He rushed over to squat down next to Maria's sleeping form, tracing her face in the air. His eyes met her mothers.

Tess opened her eyes and in a slurred voice made her diagnosis. "She'll be fine."

Tess passed out immediately after, looking dreadful, but Michael left it to Kyle.

He reached out and touched Maria's cheek reverently. She didn't wake, she looked almost peaceful, her face was relaxed and the drool had been wiped off.

"Let's put her to bed." Mrs.DeLuca said softly, encouraging Michael to pick her up.

He did so gently and carried her with her mother down to her room. Kyle meanwhile was busy settling Tess on the pulled out sofa bed and making Max check her out.

"She's just exhausted, she burned herself out for Maria. She just needs to sleep." Was Max's diagnosis.

Mrs.DeLuca appeared, alone, back in her front room. She gave them an exhausted smile; "You kids should get back before Diane wakes up to find you all gone."

They nodded and got ready to leave, She gave Isabel and Liz tight hugs.

"Thank you for helping my baby." She whispered to Isabel.

She rubbed Liz's back, "And thank you for taking care of Michael."

They left silently and she turned to the Sheriff.

"I'm making tea, would you like some?"

He nodded mutely, thinking he needed something a lot stronger than tea.

She walked into her kitchen, "Why is there sugar all over my floor?"

…………….

She was a Queen and had all of the power that went with it. Power to right some of Zan's wrongs and make her own decisions.

Her earlier thoughts echoed in Tav's mind, she needed to do something. Anything to stop this boredom, anything to help her kingdom. She loved Zan but he was a puppet and his lacks were ruining the kingdom one individual at a time.

For example, Rath, what Zan had done, let be done, to Rath was despicable. To make him get purified, to make him relive the memory that started his training. Zan knew better than anyone how hard the training was for Rath; how much it took from him; how it changed from the innocent wild child to the frozen man he'd become.

Zan had ordered the ritual but she could stop it, she realized. She had the same power in the eyes of the world that he did; she could easily cancel it.

Making up her mind she left the Queen's chamber, Rath had done so much for her when she first came to the palace, oh she knew he'd done it for Zan but it didn't matter. Now it was her turn to help him out.

She grabbed the first two guards she saw on her way to the First Order's part of the palace. The first one she grabbed was Q's personal guard from the First Order, Fonbar. The other was one of Zan's men.

She waltzed into the First Order's wing flanked by her two men.

"Your Majesty, what an honor!" a priest crooned, rushing over to welcome her.

"Yes, can you take me to the General, please?"

He paled slightly, giving a rehearsed answer. "He's indisposed."

She glared, they weren't going to treat her like a whiny women that they could dismiss.

"I'm not going to repeat myself." She told him in her coldest voice, the one that was automatically obeyed.

"Follow me, ma'am. He replied hurrying down the hallway.

She followed, keeping pace with him. She followed as the lavish hangings abruptly dropped away and they came to a stone room. The priest motioned to the door and quickly hurried off.

A sharp scream issued through the door then immediately cut off, strangling on itself.

Tav quickly motioned for the man on her left to open the door. He wrenched it open and she charged in.

The first thing she saw was Rath, chained to a wall with blood running down his arms. He was thrashing against the chains, violently trying to break them even though he couldn't.

"Stop it! Leave her alone what are you doing? I'll kill you." He was screaming at someone she couldn't see.

Alarm filled her, Rath never screamed; Rath threatened calmly and coolly then dismembered you. But screamed, no.

She spun around and fury rose in her. She understood his screams.

Q was on her knees, screaming soundlessly with her eyes rolled back up into head, blood running down her arms as she clutched herself wildly. Two of the priests stood with her their hands clutching her head.

"Get away from her!" She commanded, over Rath's death threats, stalking over.

"This doesn't concern you, Your Majesty." A priest told her, not loosening his grip even though his prisoner was starting to convulse.

"Death concerns you!" Rath screamed kicking over one of the buckets that had been catching his blood.

Tav motioned with her hand for her guards to pull the priests off. They did so immediately.

Q crumpled into a ball, crying to herself. Tav squatted down next to her, but she curled away smearing the blood from her wrists all over her face in an effort to hide.

Tav looked up furiously at the priests, "One of you release Rath. The other explain this."

Neither moved, they just stared impassively at her.

"Unless you want to be tried for treason you better move." She'd used the voice again, the Queen's voice.

One of the priests hurried over to where Rath was with the key, but the other stayed still. On the ground next to her Q whimpered softly to herself, starting to half sing and half mumble.

A commotion sounded behind Tav and she spun around, not knowing if they were enemies or friends. It was 6 more palace guards, the leader smiled at her. "We were told you needed assistance."

The priest who'd showed her the way stood just outside the door, Tav spared a quick smile at him then turned attention back to the snake in front of her.

"What did you do to her? And why?"

He looked at her full of disdain, he was one of the Granal's seconds. "This doesn't concern you, she's ours and we do as we see fit to keep it that way."

She motioned for him to be taken away, he would be no help.

The priest form the door slipped in, tentatively squatting down on the other side of Q.

"I know, My Lady." He spoke tentatively, staring intently at the girl on the ground.

Tav stroked Q's hair, she was fading fast. She nodded at the priest.

"She was starting to stray, to disobey the Granal. So they bled her to weaken her body and mind, bleeding her past the usual stopping point."

He shuddered, wracked with guilt. "Then they were supposed to invade her head, find what was making her disobey and destroy it, bring her back to the First Order.."

Tav glanced over at Rath; he was staggering his way the room. Rath never staggered, he always strode, so she looked closer. The cuts on his arm were lengthwise, running from his wrist to his elbow, they'd caused him to lose too much blood like Q.

She turned back to the priest, 'You would do that to your own? Brainwash them…that's horrible."

But part of her felt hypocritical, wasn't it kind of like what they did to the elite soldiers during training? They stole their memories for the duration of the training to keep them loyal, was that any better than twisting Q's mind?

"It didn't work. She still had the walls around her mind, so we had to try and push more memories through them." The priest who'd released Rath confessed, probably from the hand Rath had wrapped around his throat. Rath didn't let go after his confession and Tav turned away.

She sighed, this was a nightmare. "I can fix that, Let's get her to my chambers."

Rath dropped the man he was holding stepping over to her, he squatted down. Tav looked at him; something was burning in his eyes, a luminosity that shouldn't have been there. His eyes shimmered with a holy glow, something, no someone she realized, looking out at her with Rath.

"She's lost too much blood," his voice was gruff, with the twinge of an unfamiliar, old, accent.

He reached down, his blood dripping onto Q mingling with hers. He touched her cheek reverently and a light flared between them, from the stone on his Uron to setting the tattoos on her right arm ablaze.

"She won't bleed anymore" he told her, back to just Rath, it was all he could do. He was too weak.

"You can't do that! We gave you deru powder!" One of the priests screamed, terror in his voice. A guard quickly drug him away.

Fonbar lifted easily into his arms, she was completely disoriented and barely conscious.

Tav stood, she turned to one of the guards, "Get the King, send him to Rath's wing then directly to my cheeks when he's done."

He bobbed his head, "I can get other healers too.."

"No. It must be Zan." She told him sharply. He ran off.

Zan had to see, had to understand what he'd done because he just took orders. And for security purposes they had to keep this between as few people as possible, healers would gossip.

They were all in the hallway now. Tav looked up, the Granal was blocking their way with a group of battle priests at his back.

"Leave, you have no jurisdiction here." He told her.

She wanted to punch him, to kill him for what he'd done. She was Queen and had power of the religion, no matter what little fantasy he'd tried to create for himself.

"You're fired." She replied calmly starting to shoulder past, he might be crazy enough to disobey but the priests he had with him weren't.

"You're dead." A voice called from behind her.

The Granal flew across the hallway slamming into a wall, he stayed where he hit, held there by power.

Tav spun, fixing her eyes on Rath, he was furious; in a killing mood. And he had that odd light back in his eyes, that odd light that defied the deru powder they'd dosed him with to take his power.

"You hit her." Every bone in the Granal's left arm and hand shattered.

Rath never moved.

"You violate her mind." The horrible sound of his right arm getting crushed.

"You demean her." His left leg and foot were now in a million pieces.

Oh Gods above, was all Tav could think. Rath was torturing the man, breaking one bone at a time. Torturing their planet's religious leader, would it anger the gods? And it was all over a girl, one child he'd sworn to protect.

The Granal's screams seemed to spark something in Q, brining her some lucidity. She looked wildly around from her perch in Fonbar's arms. Her eyes landed on Rath and disgust and fear contorted her face like a wild animal's.

"Stop it! Can't you see your hurting him, you monster! Monster!"

She screamed it at him, her beautiful voice twisted with disgust and hatred. As twisted as her mind was.

Self-disgust filled Rath's eyes as he swayed on his feet.

"What did they do to you?" he screamed back at her, needing a reason to believe she didn't really feel that way.

Tav stared, she'd hurt him. She'd really hurt him. She'd called him a monster, voiced the fear he'd always had deep down.

"I broke your hold on her." The Granal said in a gleeful, half-maniacal voice, from his position on the wall.

Rath didn't turn to look, just kept staring at Q. The Granal flew off the wall and into the dungeon they'd just exited. The doors flew shut of their own accord, locking him in.

Q was screaming again, "No! No, No, No!"

Tav had no idea what she was yelling about, whether it was in protest or whether she'd finally lost it. But either way it stirred Tav into action again, taking control of the nightmare. Q's screams dropped away, leaving her to dry sob silently to herself like a broken child again. Rath was just staring at her, completely covered in his own blood barely managing to keep upright.

"Two of you take the General to his wing. Two of you stand guard here, make sure the former Granal isn't let out."

As everyone took to their orders, Rath being drug off and guards falling into place Tav realized something.

They were at war with the First Order now, the actions of today all but guaranteed it. And if it wasn't outright war, nobody would forget today and the struggle for power would be behind the scenes.

She didn't care, they were brutalizing their own and she wouldn't stand for it. They walked quickly to her chambers, the room that she and Zan shared.

One of her ladies had put a fresh sheet on the bed to protect it from the blood and grime.

"Set her down here and go outside." She commanded Fonbar, he did so and unwillingly with loud protests he left.

Tav sat down on the bed next to the crying child. She looked to her ladies, "Let's get her cleaned up, nobody should lie in their own blood."

They were quick about it, sponging her off while Tav soothingly tried to enter Q's mind. She couldn't get in, it was surrounded by walls, held protected by a fortress the Gods had put there.

"We don't have anything for her to wear." One of the women asked nervously.

Tav looked up, she almost smiled. They didn't have anything to wear with Tav's full closet right there? "Put her in one of my gowns."

She helped them pull the bloody white shift off of her unresponsive form. Tav started, she reached out and grabbed the necklace Q wore.

Turning it in her hand she gasped, A13.

Q slapped away her hands, putting the dog tags in mouth like a pacifier. Tav sat back still utterly stunned.

A13.

Rath's dog tags.

Rath's dog tags that he'd worn everyday for the past 11 years.

It meant something but she didn't know what and she didn't have time to dwell on it.

"Q, listen to me. You have to let me in so I can help you."

The women had changed her and left but Q was still shaking silently, black eyed and terrified. Her big dark eyes dominating her bloodless face, almost obscuring the rest of her features. Tav wanted to take the dog tags out of her mouth because she was afraid she would choke, but she stopped reaching for them at the look in the other girl's eye. If she took them, Q would start screaming, right now they were her pacifier; her safety net. Looking at her broke Tav's heart, how much had this child been through at the hands of the First Order, at the middle of a power struggle?

And how much more would she go through before it was over?

Tav pushed those depressing thoughts away as Q flailed her head from side to side. She reached out and gently touched her cheek, "I can make the pain stop."

"It'll never stop." she whispered around the dog tags.

Tav's heart broke further, how had they not seen? How had they let the First Order brutalize this beautiful creature?

She sighed, they hadn't bothered to look. She watched Q for a moment, trying to think of any way to get her to let her in.

Twist.

Turn.

Twist.

Her fingers were winding and unwinding themselves mindlessly in the chain Rath's tags were on. Tav almost smiled.

"I can give you back Rath."

Q's shaking stilled and her eyes met Tav's. Slowly she pulled the dog tags out of her mouth, the wild animal receding.

"Rath?" she sounded confused but reverent of the word. As if she wasn't quite sure what it meant but knew that it was important and beautiful.

Looking at the girls face she nodded, she had a horrible feeling that Rath was one of the reasons the First Order had done this to her. Maybe the only reason, either way she hoped Rath never realized it.

Q looked at the dog tags she was clutching and slowly traced the 3 regulation letters. She was talking softly to herself, "A13. Rath."

And Tav felt her mind open up just enough for her to slip in.

She slipped in, forming the connection, the forced memories were easy to pick out, they weren't embedded. She blanched at what she saw while she removed them, nobody should treat another person like that.

Rath hitting her over and over again while the rest of the Royals watched impassively.

Tav herself making fun of her for being giftless behind her back.

Rath laughing at her.

Vilandra belittling her and calling her useless.

Rath telling her to go back to where she was actually wanted.

Zan threatening to exile her.

Rath telling her she wasn't under his protection anymore.

The First Order coming in and taking her back, loving her.

The First Order healing her hurts, undoing the damage the Royals had done.

The First Order making it right again.

It was all complete brainwash to try and make her friends at the palace look bad and bring her back into the First Order's hold.

Tav felt Zan connect through her, healing the cuts on her arms, soothing the stomach upset, sending in energy and stimulating blood production. Zan healed her body while Tav tried to heal her mind.

Zan withdrew, leaving her to her work. She felt someone draining power from her, pulling power from her down through the connection that bound her to Q. She had no idea who it was or why they were doing it, but it was draining her and draining her quickly.

With her depleted strength grabbed the last group of floating images and pulled away. She was exhausted.

She sat back looking around, Zan was sitting next to her rubbing her back and Rath was leaning in the doorway staring at the bed. Dimly she noticed he'd changed and realized that Zan had probably made him, but he couldn't keep him from coming.

Tav followed Rath's gaze to Q who was still out of it. She motioned for him to come forward, he looked better already, stronger and more in control. No evidence of the hell he'd just been through, Zan had worked wonders.

Zan helped her stand and they pulled back to the edge of the room.

Rath was looking at Q anxiously inspecting her for offenses. Tav watched him closely, he had feelings for her. That much was obvious, feelings he shouldn't have.

"She won't remember any of tonight." She said softly, hoping it would help Rath stop beating himself up, there was nothing he could have done. In a way hoping Rath could have a memory that wouldn't ruin his tender friendship with the girl.

He nodded at her and sat down on the side of the bed, softly he pulled the dog tags out of her mouth and smoothed her hair away from her face.

Zan pulled Tav to the door, trying to give Rath privacy but she wanted to see. She hugged Zan, Rath had already forgotten they were there and needed to see how he would treat her patient.

Q managed to focus her eyes on Rath.

"I'm sorry." She whispered.

"Not your fault." He murmured, lightly placing a finger to her lips to still her protests.

Tav leaned into Zan, she loved him and it was weird seeing Rath being tender, being how Zan was with her. She'd never seen Rath tender and it was a beautiful, special thing.

She could only hear snippets of their whispered conversation now.

"…hold.." Q's ethereal voice.

"I'll….safe.." Rath's quiet response as he lay down next to her, pulling her into his arms and kissing her forehead.

Holding her.

Holding her like he shouldn't, holding her completely naturally like he'd done it a thousand times before.

Zan pulled her forcibly into the front room, firmly shutting the door behind her. They settled on the couch.

"She has his dog tags." She told Zan in wonder.

Zan looked resigned, "I'm not surprised."

The way he'd looked at her…. "Do you think he's in love with her?"

Zan looked at her sharply then shook his head. "No, she's just a child. I think Rath takes honor very seriously. She saved his life in the forest when they were attacked, it's his way of saying thank you and making it even."

Tav thought about it, she always forgot how young Q was and what Zan said made more sense than her farfetched theory.

"Yeah, but his dog tags? I mean flowers would have worked…"

Zan laughed, "Has Rath ever given anyone flowers? No, it's to make it even. She saved his life so he gave her a symbol of the life-debt he's in."

Tav nodded, Zan would know best, he and Rath were so close. Zan would surely know if Rath had feelings for the girl and would have told her. She let her suspicions slip away.

"So what happened?" he asked, stroking her back.

"Rath started a war with the First Order. No, um, they tried to invade her mind. Tried to mindwarp her and brainwash her because she was thinking for herself."

Zan rubbed his face, "Of course, mind games. It may be illegal but it's been used in war forever, and in a way she's just a pawn between them and us. I'm guessing Rath flipped?"

Tav nodded wearily leaning against his chest. "Once they got him unchained he was pissed. When the Granal showed up he kind of lost it, it was like he wasn't just Rath anymore. He started breaking every bone in the Granal's body, all the while talking to him completely calmly."

Zan sounded thoughtful, "What do you mean he wasn't just Rath anymore? How was he different?"

Tav thought about it, "He was and he wasn't at the same time, like he was more Rathish. Kind of ethereal, his eyes were almost glowing. Almost like the Chosen's do when they get possessed. What do you think it means? Do you think it was the Gods working through him?"

Zan shifted her, "Maybe, or maybe the legend is rising. Now where is the Granal now?"

Tav corrected him, "Former Granal, I fired him. He's locked in the dungeon. We have to dispose of him and pick a new leader-"

The door burst open and Jetar, Zan's head councilor strode in.

"Your majesty, what's going on? I heard the Granal is locked up, we must release him at once!"

Zan looked at him, looked at the man who'd helped orchestrate this nightmare. A nightmare he wouldn't risk letting happen again.

"No." he said coolly.

Red flared angrily in his cheeks, Zan never said no. "Why was Rath released?"

"Because its torture, they were torturing that poor girl!" Tav cried out.

"Quiet, girl." Jetar snapped at her, he hated the Queen, always had. She loosened his hold on the King.

His eyes snapped to the closed bedroom door behind them. "He's in there with her now isn't he? By the Gods, Zan! She'll ruin him, get us all killed."

Zan's voice was contemplative, "Rath was next, wasn't he? You were going to have them invade his mind and 'fix' whatever they found wrong."

Jetar didn't deny it, but his voice was cool and persuasive. "It was for the best, Your Majesty."

"You're fired." Zan' voice was like ice, he'd seen the light at last.

Jetar spluttered, "You can't fire me! I'm head of the council!"

"You're fired. Now get out." Zan repeated.

"You don't know what your doing you fool. This is war, can you really oppose your whole council?"

"Can you really rule without me or fight without a war with me without an army? The council may be loyal to you but he people are mine and the army…the army is Rath's."

Jetar turned on his heel and left.

Tav leaned into her husband. "I'm proud of you."

He kissed her forehead, "I needed you to show me."

She smiled, but it her heart she knew they'd wont he battle the war was starting.

The religion was against them, the rebels and now the council. Everyone was against them.

…………………..

Maria opened her eyes slowly, it hurt everywhere. She squeezed her eyes shut, burrowing down into her covers letting a groan escape.

"Maria?" Michael asked softly, reaching out to touch the groaning lump under the covers.

She groaned again, burrowing deeper. He squatted down next to the bed, abandoning his standing post. He lifted an edge of the blanket, peering into the darkness underneath.

"Are you ok?" he asked, the worry and terror evident in his voice.

One green eye opened, peering at him. Her hand reached out grabbing his face and pulling it towards her, letting the cover fall back over his back.

His head and half of his back was now engulfed in the darkness with her. He was completely confused.

"The light hurts." She whispered to him, trying to make him understand why they had to hide under the covers through her haze of pain. The light burned her and she couldn't let it burn him too, he was much too important.

He seemed to accept her explanation and understand. He was still anxious though, "Does anything else hurt?"

Her lips puckered, "Everything….well not my body. Just my head, but that's like an entire everything, isn't it?"

"Yeah." He replied, he could handle this. She seemed fairly stable, she hadn't screamed at him or tried to claw his eyes out. Thinking of her head as an entire everything was a very Maria-having-just-woken-up thing to say, or at least it was from past experience with Maria-having-just-woken-up.

"Do you want me to get you some painkillers?" he queried softly, he was afraid talking loudly would hurt her. Part of him wanted to stay here with her forever, buried in this warm darkness, but the part of him that was his back was protesting loudly. He was in such an awkward position half-kneeling, half-squatting while leaning over her bed.

The volume seemed to hurt her anyway because she winced. She was barely whispering herself.

"No, you stay. ….Make Kyle do it."

Relief washed over him, Maria ordering Kyle around was nothing new. It was perfectly normal Maria behavior and it lifted his heart. She was ok, Tess had saved her. He was going to give Tess the biggest thank you ever……well he'd at least smile at her.

He was about to yell for Kyle when he realized he couldn't yell, that would only hurt her. How was he going to get Kyle? He shifted his weight, and remembered her purse was right next to his left foot.

Reaching blindly down he pulled the purse into the darkness, he fumbled with her phone as she watched him impassively. He called her house.

Kyle answered, "DeLuca soon to be Valenti residence, how can I help you?"

What the hell? Soon to be Valenti? Michael ignored it, Kyle hadn't gotten any sleep last night. None of them had.

"Kyle, get some aspirin and a glass of water and bring it to Maria's room." He whispered.

'Michael? Are you calling from inside the house?"

"Yes. Now do it."

"Shaggy this is lazy even for you. I mean is the hallway too far of a walk? Buddha did not teach me to be a slave…"

Michael growled softly into the phone. Kyle was ridiculous. "Just shut up and do it Kyle. Maria won't let me leave."

"Is she awake? Is she ok?" Kyle sounded almost frantic.

"She'd be a lot f.ucking better if she had some aspirin." If Kyle had been in the room, Michael probably would have hit him, he had no patience. Maria was in pain and Kyle was delaying making it better.

"Shit, ok." Kyle sounded slightly scared as he hung up the phone.

Michael turned back to Maria. She was sucking on her thumb, staring at him.

"Where's my ring?" she asked, indicating the ringless thumb, looking adorably confused.

Michael reached down into his back pocket, pulling the ring she'd thrown at him the night before out. He took her hand, pushing it back onto her thumb.

"Where's my Tess?" she asked, more confused than ever.

My Tess? Did something happen between his girlfriend and another girl that he needed to know about?

"Tess is in the front room." He told her, heavily stressing the Tess without the My. He needed to focus, this wasn't the time to be getting jealous over Tess. It was probably from the whole life saving undoing mindwarp bond they had.

There were sounds in the room and suddenly Kyle's upper body appeared under the blanket. Maria looked at him, "Did the light burn you to?"

Kyle gave Michael an askance look as he handed over the aspirin and bottle of water. "Uh no, me and the light are good friends."

"How do you feel?" he asked as Michael opened the bottle of water.

"It hurts and I feel floaty, like I missed something."

"Maria sit up and take these." Michael told her gently.

She just stared at him, so grumbling he maneuvered the rest of his body up onto the bed and under the covered fort like thing they had going.

Kyle watched fascinated as Michael curled up against her, opened her mouth dropped the pills in and made her drink some water. She choked, spitting water right in Michael's face.

Kyle grinned, it was all about karma.

"Kyle Valenti! What are you doing with your head shoved under my daughter's covers!" Mrs.DeLuca screeched thinking the worst.

Kyle's upper body suddenly disappeared from under the blankets, wrenched backwards.

Michael grinned, it was all about karma.

The covers were ripped off of them, with an angry Mrs.DeLuca looking down. Maria immediately squeezed her eyes shut, trying to burrow into Michael. Michael just lay there, looking up with the bottle of water.

"What are you doing?" Mrs.DeLuca demanded.

A green eye opened, "The light isn't as bad anymore."

Michael managed to remain calm, in the face imminent death. "The light hurt her eyes."

Mrs.DeLuca immediately softened, stroking her daughter's hair. "How's my baby doing after last night?"

"Last night?" Maria echoed, using Michael as a crutch to help sit up.

"What's the last thing you remember?" Michael asked carefully.

She furrowed her brow in concentration, "Tess and I were talking about Maria DeLuca and the Kids from the Mystery Van. Then…I think I woke up later, I was upset from the dream."

Kyle's head popped back in the room, "Gimme the aspirin, Tess needs it."

"She wake up?" Mrs.DeLuca asked.

He nodded, "Yup, bad tempered with a killer headache."

Michael tossed him the aspirin. He disappeared.

Maria looked around her room, her eyes landing on the clock. "Oh my God, look at the time! Why didn't anyone wake me up for school."

She clutched her head, the pain flaring up at her own loud voice.

"That's why." Michael told her firmly.

"What happened, why does it hurt like this?" she asked him, her face tight with the pain.

He rubbed her back, "Nicholas mindwarped you. Tess fixed it."

"He messed with my head?" she sounded horrified.

Her mother nodded firmly. "Tess fixed it. Now both you girls need to eat to get your strength back."

She reached down, hauling her daughter to her feet, before marching away. Maria swayed, Michael immediately steadied her as he got up. He picked her up, not wanting her to attempt walking just yet and carried her down the hall.

He set her down on the sofa bed next to Tess who was sitting up looking fried and exhausted. Tess managed a weak smile at them, she was obviously still empty.

Maria smiled weakly back, "They tell me you unfried my brain. Thanks, girlfriend."

Tess shrugged, "Least I could do."

Michael rolled his eyes at them as he tucked the covers back around Maria's legs, he didn't want her being cold.

Kyle looked up at them while carrying two trays of breakfast in. He deposited one with each of the girls.

"So what now?"

Maria and Tess started eating, it was like being a little kid, at home sick tucked in on the couch with your best friend.

Mrs.DeLuca handed him a plate of food and motioned for him to eat. He sat down on the edge of the bed, close enough if Maria needed him. He looked at Kyle who was still waiting for an answer to his question.

"We wait."

Kyle nodded, "We study the skin files and get ready for battle."

Michael nodded, "I'll call Nacedo and then we do some battle prep with Braveheart."

"So we just sit here and watch Braveheart while we wait for some evil alien to come try and kidnap me!" Maria asked in disbelief.

Michael looked at her, "No, you eat everything on your plate and rest."

Then the phone rang.

………….


	24. Chapter 19

AN: Okie dokie, sorry it took so long but I had my vacation. I'll apologize in advance for the cliffhanger but I wanted to go ahead and get the part out...

Magali: Thanks for always reviewing in both places, it makes my day.

finkpishnets: wow! Hah, I'm impressed that you saved it all to your computer bc I was pretty sure I was the only person who did that. I'm so excited that you liked it enough to come back to it and read it, hoorah for Roswell. I'm a hardcore candy fan and I love it when my Tess gets good feedback, because they really could have done so much more with that character..And Kyle, Kyle just rocks my pants off. My road trip was good, a lot of random stuff went down.

Candylovin Fehrian: Aww I hope the wait wasn't too bad. I tried to put some humor in the last part to balance out all the emotional stuff bc thats what they do on the show. I'm happy you liked the Michael emotional scene, bc I'm never sure how people will take those. It was Tess's flashback and the thing about Zan is, he knows they're in a relationship. He doesn't approve and really doesn't want anyone, including his lovely wife, knowing about it which makes him kind of a jerk sometimes. Definitely Hoorah for Michael and Kyle, I always loved the little bits they got on the show and thought they should have shown more of that. Well more of Kyle in general... I'm happy you liked the last part, I wrote it at like 3 am and had accidentally already taken my sleep medication which made it interesting but it needed some laughs...

higherbeingfriendsfan: I'm happy you like Tess, and Tav, and all the past stuff. Thanks for always reviewing.

Collision Part 19 "Shattered"

_I don't like you, don't compromise  
Shattered by your weakness  
Shattered by your smile  
And I'm not very fond of you, and your lies  
Shattered by your weaknesses  
Shattered by your smile_

_"Shattered" The Cranberries _

"Cleopatra. She loved, she loved and she lost. She lost everything; her kingdom, her life for that love." Mr.Jennings proclaimed somberly with a touch of dramatic flare looking around the room at each of them in turn.

"Isabel." It came as a whisper, stealing her attention away from the history lesson, perhaps if she'd have listened to the lesson she would have learned something important. But she didn't so the point slipped away, unheard and unheeded leaving her to make her own mistakes.

She looked around discreetly trying to see who'd called her name. Alex wasn't looking at her; he was enthralled by the drawing in front of him. He seemed to be trying to draw a Scooby doo themed card for Maria and Tess with little success. Her eyes switched to Liz, but she was equally enthralled in her note taking.

Dismissing it as her imagination Isabel tried to settle back into the lesson.

"Isabel…" it came again, the ghost of a whisper riding the winds from the past.

"Vilandra.." it called, the rich familiar tones once more familiar to her than her own voice.

The past was rising all around her now, the classroom fading to be replaced by Antar's rich twilight. The reddish sky turning to the plum indigo of the night at the edge of the life-lake, red as the blood that surely ran in her veins.

He was there with her she realized, startled by that fact. But part of her wasn't surprised, it whispered to her, scolding and informing. "Of course he is, where else would he be?"

"Where am I?" she snapped, fear of the unknown, fear of him but mainly fear of herself making her sharp-tongued.

"We're in your mind, my sweet enchantress." His voice was rich, the old endearment rolling off of his tongue like the years, and the betrayals, had never come to pass.

"This isn't my mind," she replied hating the effect his voice had on her.

"Maybe not the part you're most familiar with, but the older part. The stronger part." He said aloud but the words he didn't say spoke louder, screaming at her in their silence.

'The part that remembers long pleasure filled nights under a different sky. The part that ran wild and free. The part that knew love and acceptance. The part that knew me.'

"Why am I here?" Her voice sounded breathy event to her own ears, he was having he old effect on her. The undeniable pull springing to life between them.

"Because you're mine, always have been and always will be." His voice was utterly confident; convincing and filled with a coaxing possession.

"No" she choked it out, she wasn't doomed to make the same mistakes again. She was her own person, not bound by her past.

It was if he could hear her thoughts, and perhaps he could, or perhaps it showed too strongly in her face.

"Don't try and fight it. Our destiny is written in the stars, bound by prophecy. You knew from the moment we met…."

She shook her head mutely, barely restraining herself from collapsing into his welcoming embrace.

"We'll see my sweet enchantress. We'll see." He murmured tenderly reaching out cup her face.

…………………

She was standing in the crowd at the yearly Adulation Festival and she was utterly alone. Well alone was precisely the proper word because she was surrounded by people who wanted to talk to her and touch her, but she was isolated from her equals.

Vilandra looked around, searching for somebody she knew, she was tired of the watching eyes she normally thrived on. After a minute she spotted Rath and a man she didn't know, giving a perfunctory smile to the group around her she slipped away.

She slipped through the dancers already lost to prancing in their joy and thanks to the Gods. After several minutes of sidestepping and short hellos she finally made it over to Rath and his companion.

"Rath I've been looking for you everywhere!" She exclaimed in an annoyed tone, he was supposed to escort her tonight but hadn't shown.

He didn't even glance up. "Well you found me, Lonnie."

Slightly miffed she glanced at his companion and her breath froze in her lungs. Her body momentarily stopped functioning and everything fell away as she looked into his gold eyes. Eyes the color of the burning sun, eyes that could start a raging fire in her with one glance.

Attractive, she admitted to herself eyeing his elegant bone structure and toned physique. Attractive to the point of it almost being an affliction. She wondered if he was always this handsome or if it was this particular night lending the otherworldly fey cast to regular features.

This night, the one night out of the year when the walls between this world and the immortal, the Gods, were at their thinnest. The night the past came alive and the future shimmered around them. Past lives flaring to life in faces to search for lost loves and right wrongs. The night the Gods walked Antar, where any stranger you met may or may not be entirely immortal. The night Antar raised their thanks and praise to the Gods and in turn the Gods gave their blessings freely.

Smiling a slow, alluring smile at him she addressed Rath again. "Aren't you going to introduce me to your friend, Rath?"

Rath lifted his head, annoyance evident in the fluid gesture and cold look he shot her. "No."

He paused, considering whether to be monosyllabic or not. Deciding against it he spoke again, still in the same dry tones he favored. "I'm sure you'll somehow manage."

She glared at him for a moment, Rath was in one of his tetchy moods. Where he would be sarcastic, unhelpful, rude and generally as antisocial as possible. He wanted everyone to know that he didn't want to be here, that he thought it was all a grand waste of his precious time.

The mystery man laughed at Rath's short remarks. "Rath never introduces me to beautiful women…he seems to think it distracts me from my work."

"It does." Rath cut in, giving his companion a look. Then he caught her unending glare and sighed, launching into a mock formal overly sarcastic introduction.

"Princess Vilandra of the House of Karr meet Kivar, my second from the S'kron region."

"What I don't get my titles?" Kivar mocked with an old familiarity.

She barely heard him because she was busy thinking of all the references she'd heard about Kivar. The first child of the last King of the Skylons, his father had made a peace agreement with hers, swearing his loyalty to the house of Karr and recognizing them as the only true monarchs of Antar for a spot on the council. Kivar had been part of the deal too, sent to training at the same time as Rath to be the military representation of his region. He and Rath and trained and served together for the past 11 years, and as such he was one of the few people she'd heard Rath mention with any level of trust associated with his name.

Smiling softly, satisfied she had recalled all she'd heard, she murmured. "Well met…..Kivar."

He motioned to the empty place next to her for her to sit. Once she had seated herself he leaned in close conspiratorially. "I've always dreamed of meeting you and tonight…..tonight exceeds al expectations."

His voice was like heaven, riche in timbre still with the traces of his peoples' native lilting green tones. Affected by him and wanting to hide it she coyly turned away only to see Rath's half-disgusted half-amused look. She gave him a scorching glare, "What are you doing, Rath?"

He held up the tablet he'd been drawing on, it was an inverted cone in heavy strokes, the same one he'd been drawing everywhere and on everything for days now.

"The visions getting worse?" she queried sympathetically, this vision quest had Rath all worked up, all he wanted to do was swan off and find out what they meant, but duty bound him.

"Not worse, clearer." He corrected, his tone sharp with annoyance.

"Can you hear anything with them yet?" Kivar's voice was curious, hiding a wealth a knowledge.

Rath just shook his head, still looking annoyed. Vilandra smiled at Kivar, "Sounds like you speak from experience….."

He shrugged giving her a mysterious smile, "Why do you think I'm here?"

Before she could even begin to puzzle out the meaning behind his words Rath's head snapped up, staring intently past her. Kivar's followed a second after so she turned in her seat opening her mouth to ask why. Then she heard it through the suddenly silent crowd.

The low keening note going higher and higher weaving itself into an ancient, suspenseful melody all sung by one voice. Her voice rose twisting and twining around itself again and again, with each ever higher note she pulled them all closer to her; the melody getting tighter and faster until Vilandra's heart was hammering in her chest, needing, craving the release the music would bring. She felt part of her self going higher and higher with the music until the taut suspense finally broke in one high trilling note. The part of her was ripped away that last note, finding it's release and as it left the rush of ecstasy hit her. The joy swept through her, filling her, burning away her doubts and petty hatreds, leaving her in a happy, self-loving state. Slowly, as if the musicians were just recovering, accompanying music began up for dancing supporting the lone voice.

She sat back smiling, this was the first time she'd been at a festival where the Siren sang and now she understood why the people followed and flocked from all over Antar and beyond to hear her at festivals. Her voice was rich with the circle of life and full of the thanks she held for Gods and their returning love for Antar.

Vilandra glanced at Kivar and Rath but they were both still staring intently past her with an attention so rapt it was painful to look at. She turned again, following Rath's searing gaze to the dais.

The Siren stood, shimmering in a gown that caught moonbeams and spit fire with the holy ochai flowers floating in her hair and adorning her wrists serving to highlight her mysterious tattoos. She was a beautiful, awe-inspiring sight with her music an almost tangible thing floating around her softly swaying body. The mystery and abandon that flooded her lilting tones disguised whatever words in the old language she sang, making it all the more moving to hear. She was a floating delicate flower, an oddly simple show for the First Order without the ceremonial paint the religious ceremonies usually held.

Vilandra turned away, back to Kivar and Rath. Rath was leaning back in his seat, relaxed with the hints of a smile playing at the corners of his mouth. But Kivar, Kivar was still staring at the Siren intently, almost fervently. They way he looked at her caused a funny twist in Vilandra's chest, an odd sharpness.

"She has a beautiful voice," she said leaning closer to recapture his attention.

He smiled at her, with an unfathomable look in his gold eyes. His voice was as mysterious as his reply. "Beautiful but deadly."

She wasn't sure how to respond to that, but that odd twisting jealousy in her left her voice sounding slightly hurt even to her own ears. "You look like you're in love with her."

He laughed, genuinely amused. "With that child? Gods no, I like my women more….. royal."

Her cheeks reddened and his eyelid dropped down causally to cover one gold eye in a wink. He continued on without missing a beat. "I see her potential, she could cause a war or save a planet."

"How?" she was fascinated by him, by his words, his voice, his persona.

He shrugged, gesturing about. "Look at everyone, look at the effect of her voice. You can't even understand what she's saying but everyone is completely in her thrall. Imagine if she used words, the damage or help it would do."

He leaned closer and her heart sped up in response, it was like he way laying a spell on her. His voice dropped in pitch, becoming an intimate whisper. "She's affected everyone, even Rath."

Following his glance she looked, Rath the antisocial was talking easily to a man he'd never met in stark contrast to his normal conversation lines with people he didn't know running along the lines of "Where would you like this knife?" His posture was relaxed, not the stiff guarded event it usually was. She looked at his face closely, feeling a pang of jealousy that this girl he didn't know could touching him in a way all her reaching hadn't. He seemed almost happy, the oppressing duty and ever-present self-hate dulled in his coppery gaze.

She and Kivar watched as a girl, one of the palace scribed pranced over to Rath from the dancers.

"Will you dance with me, General?" The girl simpered crazily, looking up at Rath with huge adoring eyes.

He drained his drink, giving the girl a casual once over. "I don't dance."

Immediately after talking Rath walked off, leaving the girl gaping like a fish. Kivar laughed next to her, his breath tickling her ear. "Well maybe not that much. He's still an ass, though an ass in a good mood. Poor Arhal didn't she know that there's only two ladies Rath dances with?"

He flashed her a smile, answering her unspoken question. "Duty and death."

She smiled easily back despite her beating heart. "Oh but that's a lie… Rath's an amazing ballroom dancer, he graduated the first in our class when we were kids.."

His laugh was surprised, "Really now?"

She gave him a wicked smile, "Well only because he terrified the instructor so badly that she burst into tears and declared he could dance perfectly before fleeing the room…."

Kivar gave her a knowing, amused smile that lit something in her on fire. "Ah… Now how long did that take him?"

"Twenty minutes, but he's gotten much better since then. I'm sure he could do it with just a glare now even to the lovely Siren who's affected him so tonight." Her vice started out light but as Kivar's eyes drifted back tot he dais she couldn't stop the last barb at the other girl.

His gold gaze met hers, "Don't fret, my sweet enchantress, she may have a voice but she's got none of your irresistible charm."

"Have you met her?" She asked mollified but also morbidly curious about this girl who held such a sway over Vilandra's men.

"Once or twice, she sings after battles for the fallen souls…..she's very odd."

"Who is?" Rath asked reappearing with a fresh glass of woksa. As usual not brining anyone else one, he was always so self-centered.

"The Siren" She informed him as he sat down.

He made a face, "Are you two still on that? So the kid's got a set of pipes, big deal."

Kivar shrugged, completely unfazed by the latent hostility in Rath's tones. "Ever met her?"

Rath just stared at him as if he was insane. "Yeah, because I've always dreamed about meeting a weird kid who gives off freaky vibes with those eyes that aren't right."

Vilandra shrugged, that was Rath at his most basic; passing judgment on people he didn't know with all the little things he'd silently observed about them. And if he didn't already know you, he didn't want to.

A low laugh like rumbling thunder sounded from directly behind Rath. Startled he turned, this was probably the first time in years someone had gotten the drop on him she realized gleefully.

The stranger appeared, slipping into their tight circle addressing Rath. "Not your exact dream no, but one that will come true all the same. What is it you see when you close your eyes at night, I wonder?"

His voice was odd, thick with a rich accent Vilandra didn't recognize. Almost slow as if he wasn't used to speaking Antarian but was used to having all the time in the world to say what he wanted.

Rath's face hardened, loosing his good humor. His hackles were up, he wasn't sure if he was being made fun of or not. "I wonder."

The man laughed again, sensing his dilemma. Vilandra wanted to shake this stranger, you don't antagonize Rath if you want to live and you most definitely don't make fun of him. He merely shot an amused glance in her direction before speaking. "What you say and see are intertwined, she'll help you get to the end of the vision quest."

Vilandra looked closer at the stranger, at his too perfect face and his shimmering eyes. Realizing, what, and who, he was she immediately dropped into a low curtsey.

Kivar realizing right after her their stranger's not quite mortal status dropped into a low bow. She looked up to Rath, trying to encourage him to bow but he didn't, his infernal pride keeping him erect. Rath looked at the stranger for a long measured moment, then managed a curt nod. Oddly enough the stranger nodded back.

Straightening up she hissed at him, "Rath…."

Rath ignored her and she felt the sudden touch of pure energy in her mind.

"Leave him be, Princess. You worry that he bows to no one. I worry that no one bows to him."

Puzzled and slightly thrown by his words Vilandra slipped closer to Kivar.

"You know what's in my dreams." It was a direct statement from Rath, daring this deity to disobey him.

Kivar's fingers gently brushed the bare skin on the back of her arm and Vilandra nearly screamed.

It was like she'd connected a live wire to her spine, everything was exploding in a world of beautiful fiery sparks. The world fell away and she was rushing through the stars moving every closer towards him. Towards him, towards her everything, her destiny.

As abruptly as it started it ended and his soft touch moved away. She looked up, her breath coming in ragged gasps and met his gold eyes. He was staring down at her, his eyes a flame with a burning passion that matched the one eating her alive from the inside out. He wanted her, needed her to be whole just as much as she needed him.

The stranger's voice shocked her back to reality, back to a world where more than just the two of them existed. She looked away from Kivar, their brief flaming eternity in reality had been a mere second.

"Yes I know the image that haunts you."

Rath's voice was as desperate as she'd ever heard it, which admittedly wasn't desperate at all. "What is it?"

The stranger was quiet for a moment, looking thoughtful as his eyes shimmered. "Something that was yours long ago. Do yourself a favor and don't fight against it this time, you can't."

A shot of pain flared in the endless depths of his eyes. "Though perhaps it would be better if you could."

The pain was gone, leaving only a cryptic smile in its place. "Time will be too precious to waste. You'll go soon, very soon."

He turned away, looking at the Siren who was leaving the dais floating through the parted crowd. Rath's stare followed. He glared at the girl with an intensity that had made more than one man burst into tears in fear but the girl never noticed the scorching gaze as she floated closer.

"She's a part of this." Rath stated, no question in his voice.

"So you feel it already."

Rath didn't respond to the odd comment, merely continuing to eat the girl alive with his eyes. She drifted ever closer to them, all the while Rath looked at her like a man dying of thirst staring at his salvation.

Kivar nudged her, dislodging the odd jealousy she felt at the way Rath looked at the girl. She'd known Rath her entire life and never, despite all of her trying, could she get him to react like this, to look at her as anything more than just a girl he knew. She'd reached out, she'd preened, but he always kept her at a distance.

"Rath don't stare. It's rude." She hissed at him, partly to chastise him and partly because she was mortified at his ogreish behavior.

"Maybe that's why he does it." Kivar's amused voice whispered in her ear, his warm breath tickling her ear and sending delightful shivers down her spine.

Rath's eyes snapped away from the girl with an almost audible pop. She was almost to them now causing him to shake his head almost violently. His eyes met the strangers, completely forgetting Vilandra and Kivar.

"No." he proclaimed, he denied, he demanded.

The stranger didn't say anything merely keeping a straight face causing Rath to turn on his heel and stomp away, leaving Vilandra completely confused over the odd exchange.

The Siren appeared just as Rath left, she was a beautiful vision who curiously avoided everyone's eyes with a ferocity. The stranger looked at Rath's retreating form, to the Siren, then to her and Kivar. In an ominous voice he whispered to himself, "So it begins."

His eyes met hers for a second, "Two will live. One will shatter."

Then he turned his attention away, to the Siren, as if nothing out of the ordinary had just occurred. The words chilled her, sent ice into her bones, embedding themselves into her very core. She couldn't forget the prediction, the horrible promise, in his words if she tried.

"Well done, my child." The stranger praised the girl while fixing a stray ochai flower in her hair. The girl looked up at him for a moment an unspoken question passing between them. He nodded to her and with a small smile she dropped her eyes back to the ground.

Vilandra took the moment to study the girl, to really look at her. Not quite a woman but no longer a child, she held the fragile beauty of a flower. Of a fake flower, one that wasn't completely natural, one that had been manufactured without the little flaws that made them real. Her face was lovely but not for one specific feature, it was obvious in the gentle blending of her features that the Gods had touched her, a creation of art made in love. Each feature on its own wasn't anything special, all perfectly ordinary and perfectly symmetrical. What lent her beauty was that she was perfectly balanced, all of the ordinary features working in tandem, none overpowering the others. She was delicately beautiful, striking because of her perfect ordinariness, her figure neither too slender or voluptuous, her nose neither too big or too small.

Vilandra had once heard it said that the best way to be noticed was to be perfectly ordinary but she'd never found it so, and she preferred her own looks to this girls. They were nothing like her own striking exotic beauty that stood out like shooting star, drawing all the attention to her enormous night sky eyes.

To cover her stare she spoke, "You sang beautifully, Qaelia."

Startled at being addressed the girl looked up, her eyes meeting Vilandra's own for a split second. She was hit by a wave of overwhelming loneliness, of aloofness and isolation and oddly enough the look made her think of Rath, at the way he held himself so far apart. In her lovely mirrored gaze Vilandra saw a girl who everyone stared at but nobody saw. An emotion she'd once felt herself, everyone stared at her physical beauty but nobody wanted to know the real Vilandra. Eventually she'd learned to become satisfied by it, to thrive on the stares.

This girl hadn't, she hated the eyes that followed her, she dreamed of a life, of a world not bound by duty or sacrifice.

The moment broke with the Siren dropping her eyes to the floor again, hiding her pain the only way she knew how; by avoiding everyone's eyes because she couldn't hide the self-hate in her eyes.

"Thank you, Your Majesty." The girl murmured softly.

Vilandra felt a surge of pity for the girl, a need to try and fix it. "You must come to the Palace to visit me. I'd love to get to know you better."

The disbelief and overwhelming joy washed across her features like a waterfall. Then her eyes glanced at Kivar and her face changed. She left, practically fleeing, taking the same path away that Rath had earlier. Both fleeing from a future they couldn't prevent.

Kivar touched Vilandra's back and she felt the accompanying sparks shooting up her. Sparks she'd never felt, nor known existed before him. He smiled at the Stranger who was watching them closely.

"So do you have any glimpse at our beautiful Princess's future?"

He looked at her intently, his face unreadable.

"You will have a great love." He sounded somber, as if this was a horrible thing.

She beamed at Kivar, already knowing deep down it was him.

"And it will ru- you." His accent was thick, obscuring the end of a word before he disappeared into the crowd fleeing the future he couldn't stop.

A wild uncontrollable fear clinched her stomach for one horrible moment. The would all end badly, horribly. Maybe if he'd said it before, if he'd told her before Kivar had touched her. Before Kivar intertwined his fingers in her soul and set her world askew. But he hadn't, he'd let her fall and now she would pay the price.

She turned her face up to Kivar's, leaning into him.

"What did he say? Rule or ruin? Will it rule me or ruin me?" Her voice was desperate but for once she didn't care.

Kivar gave an unconscious mysterious smile leaning closer. "Doesn't matter. They reach the same end."

His lips touched hers, melting away the fear and marking the truth of the words.

She was his, now and forever and there was no going back.

………………

The scene faded away leaving Isabel back in her own mind. She looked around but she wasn't in the classroom anymore. She was walking down the hallway with Liz chattering away at her.

Alex flounced up to them, causing her to start. It wasn't really just Alex, there was someone else looking out of his eyes too. Someone who'd looked out of them before.

She opened her mouth to say something about it but found she couldn't. It was blocked, as if something or someone had blocked the path between her mind and actions.

"So ladies, I'm a man on a mission. I'm heading over to Maria's armed with my lovely card and some jalepeno chocolates for Tess and a very shiny necklace for Maria to help speed the healing process and whatnot. Now who wants to come along, because surely it's preferable to eating a boring lunch here….."

Liz smiled excitedly, "I want to go! I really want to check on Maria, Kyle called to say they woke up and were ok but you can never really trust Kyle's judgment of what's ok….."

"I've got one lovely lady companion, how about two? Going once, going twice…" Alex turned to her, the other in his eyes flashing a no.

Isabel's mouth opened without her permission. "I can't. I've got to get something from Michael's and I need to talk to Max.."

To her horror the lie rolled out easily and Liz and Alex smiled back at her, made their good-byes and walked off. She wanted to scream after them, to tell Liz that Alex was Fonbar-Alex but Vilandra was stronger, forcing her to 'ride shotgun in her own fricking body' as Michael had put it.

"Where are our humans going?" Max joked form behind her. He seemed to be in a decent mood despite the lurking danger of the day.

She turned, Vilandra making her face sweet and open. "To visit Maria and Tess. Can you do me a huge favor, brother dearest?"

He shrugged, "Name your terms, its not like I've got anyone to eat lunch with anymore."

She beamed at him outwardly while on the inside Isabel was screaming at him to run.

"Take me to Michael's apartment, I left something there that I really need to get."

He nodded and they headed out to the jeep.

"You're in a good mood for a day that Maria's stalker is planning on killing your best friend." She commented lightly.

Max started the jeep up, "Why shouldn't I be? Michael will finally get to kill this guy once and for all and I've got some ideas of how to deal with the skins."

The Isabel part of her worried, Max was always solemn and controlling in bad situations, not this flippant creature driving the jeep. But the Vilandra part of her laughed, how could he be so confidant in Michael against one of Kivar's men? It was the same mistake Zan had made, always trusting and supporting Rath over her.

"Besides, I figured something out. Fonbar, no matter how much he wants to, can't kill Michael without it ruining Maria."

"What do you mean?" Her voice was sharp, Vilandra's annoyance making a dagger out of every word.

"You saw how Rath was at the end, I doubt this guy wants a shattered version of Maria."

"Maria and Michael aren't Granixed."

Max smiled, "But they're bound, the Granix bond may not be activated all the time but it's still there."

She was quiet, this wasn't something Kivar had mentioned when he brought Vilandra back. They were at the apartment and climbed out of the jeep. Inside her body Isabel was thrashing wildly, trying to prevent this. Trying to save her brother, but she wasn't strong enough. She wasn't strong enough to fight off her past, her destiny.

"What are you hear to get?" Max asked, stopping by the couch.

"Go-" she squeezed it out in a moment of control before Vilandra snatched the reins back.

"Something that was taken from me." Her voice was silky, serpentine. Deadly.

Concerned he stepped closer, nobody should steal from his sister. "What was that?"

"My life," she hissed viciously.

Suddenly alarmed he stepped back, but it was already too late.

Vilandra with Isabel fighting against her hit his mind, exploding a burst of power right over his body controls. He immediately crumpled, fast asleep and unlikely to wake anytime soon.

Isabel was horrified, absolutely terrified she'd killed him. She'd hurt her own brother, her own flesh and blood all because she couldn't stand up to herself.

Tears started to roll down her cheeks, her distress overpowering Vilandra's calm cool emotions, but it wasn't enough to get control back.

Fighting against every movement, every dialed number Isabel rallied. But it was no use, she couldn't stop herself, her love for Kivar, her craving of the past was too strong. And the Vilandra part of her used her distress against her, letting it lace her voice and soak out as the phone started to ring.

"Michael?" The tears coating her voice for all the wrong reasons.

Kivar had been right, she was his, then and now and she couldn't stop it.

………………

The shrill ring of the phone echoed around the DeLuca's living room. Michael looked up at Maria who was moving to answer it.

"Give it here." He commanded, holding out his hand. With a sulky but thankful look she complied.

He snapped it on. "What?" his voice was sharp and threatening.

"Michael?" she sounded terrified, broken and crying.

He sat up straighter in alarm. "Isabel? What's wrong?"

She was crying softly and it scared him, Isabel never cried in public where anyone could hear her.

"You have to come to your apartment." She sounded so desperate.

"Why?" God, he didn't want to go. He couldn't, he just couldn't leave Maria unprotected. It could all be some sick trap.

"Because he's got me and Max….he…Max is hurt, he's unconscious." Her voice dropped in pitch. "I'm so scared, Michael."

"Who? Who has you, Fonbar or Nicholas?" He was standing up by now, pacing the area next to the sofa bed furiously.

There was a pause and then her voice was a mere whisper. "Fonbar. He…he says you two have to fight and he doesn't want Maria to have to see it."

Maria reached out grabbing his arm, she could probably her every word but he didn't care. Viciously he shook her off, his anger boiling.

That snake had his family and was making him chose between the two. Was using his family as a trap to lure him away, but at the same time, no matter how much he hated it, he agreed that Maria didn't need to see the fight.

He looked over at her, at her anxious face and big exhausted eyes, she was so vulnerable right now. Still so weak from being mindwarped, of seeing those images of him dying. She couldn't see the fight, if he so much got a scratch she'd probably do something desperate.

"I won't let you get hurt." her voice was soft but determined confirming his suspicions.

"Let me talk to him." It was a snap, an order laced with worry.

He heard the sounds of a small scuffle and Isabel's short cry that died abruptly, as if had been cut off.

"Isabel?"

Nothing but the click of the line going dead.

Cursing Michael sat down, rubbing his face.

"Michael?" It was Maria's worried voice, quickly followed by her weight as she hugged him behind.

"What if it's a trap?" he asked nobody in particular, he didn't need to explain hat he meant. They all heard the phone call. Maria set her chin on his shoulder, her breath tickling the side of his neck.

"What if it's not?" Her voice was soft, filled with doubts and fears. Filled with half-remembered images of him dead or dying.

Michael was quiet for a moment, he couldn't look t her. Couldn't bear to leave her unprotected at a time like this, but on the other hand he couldn't leave his family in enemy hands.

"I'll go." Kyle pronounced, appearing in the hallway with a rifle slung across his shoulder and an ammunition belt.

"No." Michael said, it would just get Kyle, Isabel and Max killed.

"Nobody goes, I'll call Nacedo." His voice was firm, but when had a firm tone ever mattered to Maria?

"Michael…."

"No, Maria. I'm not leaving you alone and I'm sure as hell not taking you with me." He'd turned so that he was facing her, making sure she saw he meant it, how much he felt for her.

"It's your family, Michael."

She looked right back at him, willing him to see what she felt, how she felt about it. It passed between them unspoken, the understanding that trap or no trap it was his family. That she wouldn't let him choose her or them, that she was terrified for him but would make him go anyway. That she loved him more than anything and that he loved her back.

Mrs.DeLuca watched silently as they stared at each other, the nearly visible vibrations between her daughter and this boy she was starting to consider family. It all floated between them, the bated breaths and 3 heartbeats making an eternity. All of the love, the regrets, the fears, the need and the willing sacrifices. It built and built until Michael couldn't take it anymore , leaving forward and roughly kissing her.

The kiss broke and Michael pulled away, his eyes immediately finding Kyle's while he still had the strength to do this.

"Stay here, if anyone you don't recognize comes to the door shoot them. If you do recognize them, verify their identity before you let them in and if they hesitate shoot them too. Keep her safe."

In a way Kyle was flattered, extremely honored that Michael trusted him enough to leave him in charge of keeping Maria safe. He patted the rifle on his shoulder, "You can trust me and Eastwood here, We've got it."

Michael nodded, standing up form the edge of the sofa bed.

"Take this." Mrs.DeLuca commanded thrusting a wicked looking butcher's knife at him.

He didn't' bat an eye at the proffered weapon, he merely took it and spun the knife in his fingers the same way Rath used to do so many years ago. Still spinning the knife he nodded once at her, taking her pat on the cheek and good luck in good stride.

"Michael, a word of warning. If you fight in your mind beware of the consequences. If you die in your mind you die in the real world." Tess voice was soft, haunted by an old memory of an old pain that never truly healed.

He nodded, it was like getting gifts from the 3 wise men before battle. He put his hand on the door handle and heard the frantic stumbling.

"Michael, wait!" Maria's half-hysterical, terrified voice.

He turned, hoping and praying to every God he'd ever known that this wasn't a last goodbye. He opened his mouth to tell her how much he loved her and choked.

"Be safe." He managed to get out around the block in his throat.

She looked up at him, her big green eyes terrified of all the possibilities.. Her hand reached up touching his face softly as if to memorize his features.

"Don't get yourself killed, Spaceboy.-" She tried to joke but the overwhelming fear in her eyes ran over into her voice.

"I love you too much for you to die," it was practically a sob, wrenched form the depths of her quaking heart.

She pulled his face down in a brutal kiss, giving him the greatest gift of them all; herself.

She opened the connection between them for a second letting him know, in a rush of images, how much she loved him and exactly how she saw him. How her world revolved around him, how sometimes he was the only light in the dark room of her life. How he was her knight in shining armor, always saving her even when she didn't think she deserved to be saved or loved. And most importantly how his flaws, his dark side, in her eyes only made the good parts of him shine brighter.

It was a kaleidoscope of moments they'd shared. Stolen kisses in the Crashdown, understanding in a dingy motel room, arguing over what movie to watch, the eraser room, just hanging out at his apartment, his crying in her arms, study sessions where they got nothing done, a napkin holder, breaking and entering, him killing Pierce and her worry about him, little notes passed in class, shampoo plus conditioner, her tasting tobasco to see why he liked it and her resulting screams for water, working in the Crashdown, trips to the desert, lugging his creepy cocoon to a reservation, her thinking he was lonely and giving him a goldfish that promptly died, the way he looked at her from across the room. But always him, always beautiful to her, even when she was screaming at him in anger or crying in her room at night.

The flashes stopped at the sharp taste of salt on his lips. He pulled away looking at the lone tear rolling down her cheek. He wiped it away roughly with his thumb, memorizing her features one last time.

"I'll be back soon." His voice was gruff, but if he didn't leave now he never would.

He slipped out of her arms opening the door and gong outside. The whole time Maria didn't move, just stood there wit her hands clenched into fists from trying to stop herself from just throwing herself into his arms.

He leaned his head back in saying the words he'd said before, words that were there in the beginning. "Lock the door."

What he meant was 'I love you'. She understood, got the message loud and clear and did what he said with tears escaping her eyes she flipped the deadbolt.

Kyle pulled her into a tight hug, having momentarily set down his rifle. "Buddha will watch over your lone wolf."

She managed a smile at his surety, and to keep herself from bursting into tears she focused on his gun. "Did you really name your rifle after Clint Eastwood?"

Kyle grinned, "Of course….Make my day."

Tess smiled at his dead on Dirty Harry expression, she opened her mouth to say something but there was a knock at the door causing her to jump.

Kyle was immediately over by the door, shoving Maria at Tess. He was completely ready with his rifle locked and loaded. He wrenched back the curtains to see Alex and Liz looking at him expectantly.

His face screwed up in concentration as he thought about it, he cracked the window just enough to talk through and get a clear shot if he needed it.

"Alex what did I use to tell you all the time in elementary?" Kyle asked, quiz question numero uno.

Alex gave him an odd look then in a falsetto-imitating-Kyle-as-a-little-kid voice he mimicked. "Hey Whitman why don't you go whittle you some friends? Har har har."

Kyle made a face at the dead on obnoxious laugh he'd always used. "Right, man I was a jerk. Liz your admittance question. Where did I take you the first day of summer after Freshman Year?"

Liz's face went completely blank for a second, causing Kyle to put his finger over the trigger. Her face cleared and she had it in the bag. "To the lake. We went fishing and I caught a bigger fish than you and you got all pissy…"

Kyle nodded, satisfied. He lowered the gun and opened the door just enough to let them in before immediately deadbolting it again.

"Tight security?" Alex muttered as he looked at Maria.

Kyle nodded, "We're on alpha. Now since you're here I'm gonna do a perimeter check and make sure all the windows are secure."

Liz looked around, "Where's Michael?"

Her eyes went to Maria's and she rushed over enveloping the blonde in a tight hug.

"Fonbar has Isabel and Max at Michael's apartment. He went after him." Tess said softly.

Alex's face twisted into an odd smile for a flash of a second. Then it was gone and Tess thought she'd imagined it. He gave her an easy smile and pulled his hands out from behind his back, displaying the card and jalepeno chocolates.

Grinning he put it in her hands. "For my favorite Maria-saving alien member of the Mini Scooby Gang."

She smiled back and looked down in wonder, it was one of the first gifts she'd gotten and her first thank you card ever. It was hand made out of construction paper with an attempted drawing of a Daphne-dressed Maria falling and Vhelma-Tess saving the day with green sparks shooting from her fingers. In the background was an even worse upset Michael-Shaggy being dealt with by a Fred-Max and a Scooby Doo with Kyle's face on it. Driving the Mystery Van over to help was a very Daphne like Isabel with a beVhelmaed Liz riding shotgun reading a book.

Tess laughed out loud, privately deciding to start a scrapbook with this card as the first thing she saved. She opened it up, the contents bringing tears to her eyes.

"Tess,

I can't thank you enough for what you did for Maria last night, even with the risk to yourself. In fact I can't thank you enough for all that you've brought to our group and I can't wait to get to know you even better. Hope you feel better soon,

Alex (and probably Kyle too)"

She gingerly set the card tot he side, "Thank you Alex, nobody's ever given me a card before."

He pointed to the chocolate, "I bet you've never gotten jalepeno chocolate either.."

She shook her head, ripping it open. She placed a piece in her mouth. "Mmmm it's heaven. Where did you get it?"

He shrugged, "Texas, you wouldn't believe the stuff they put jalepeno's in…"

He squeezed himself onto the couch bed, pulling Maria away from Liz's inspection.

"And how's my Maria baby doing?" He asked in a baby talk voice, pulling her into his arms.

"I'm worried about Michael." She said burrowing into his chest.

He stiffened. "You don't need him."

The odd tone of his voice made her head pop up, giving him an angry intense look.

Looking slightly confused but in a more Alex-like voice he clarified. "I mean not when you've got this beautiful necklace to make you feel better."

He produced a stunning necklace. It was a cone shaped glittering and shining crystal pendant hung on a clear string much like fishing wire.

"Ohhhh, Alex it's beautiful! Where did you get it!"

He shrugged, the odd Alex back. "Around, I was saving it for your birthday but this seemed right…"

She beamed at him, slipping it over her head, letting it settle. He grinned t her as if his trip had been a success. "Feel better now?"

Maria curled back up against Liz, "I just want it all to be over. For Michael to come home safe."

Liz rubbed her back, "He'll be fine, he's got Rath and besides Isabel and Max are there to help him. I feel so horrible, I let Isabel not come with us."

"You couldn't have known, Liz. It will all be all right." Mrs.DeLuca said softly bringing a tray of sandwiches into the room.

Alex stood up, glancing at his watch. "I've got to go, at least some of us should be at school. Liz?"

She shook her head, "No, I'm staying."

He nodded. "All right. Kyle you take care of the ladies. Maria you have a good time."

He left the odd comment ringing in the air.

……………………………

Max slept, drifting into the past. Unwittingly Isabel, in her attempt to stop herself, sent him into his memories instead of an unwaking sleep. So he lay there unaware of the fight going on around him, lost in a blast from the past.

Zan was strolling through the palace gardens with his wife at dusk. Smiling over at her he reached down plucking the ochai flower she'd been admiring, twirling it in his fingers he carefully tucked it behind her ear. She beamed at him in response, reaching out to intertwine their fingers.

A low rumble of a male voice, a familiar male voice, followed by the soft sound of lips meeting sounded through the leaves down the path.

A very familiar voice, Zan realized fury bubbling in him. Rath's very familiar low rumble.

Angry and forgetting his lovely wife Zan silently pushed a few leaves out of the way, leaving a small view, a peephole of sorts that seemed to have been put there. One designed for regular use, which only made his anger worse.

He could see Rath, or more precisely Rath's bent back. He was bent over, nearly in half, with a very feminine hand tangled in his hair.

Zan pulled away from his peephole anger rising in his veins, scorching him from the inside. This situation was ridiculous, unsafe and anyone could walk up on them. Rath was being careless and Zan hated it, hated the risks he was taking.

Reaching out grabbing Tav's hand he pulled her down the path towards Rath and his lady companion. Tav stumbled along behind him, clutching his hand tightly and working to keep her balance at his quick, jerky pace.

He pushed the overhanging branches out of the way with a loud snap, coming to the small, secluded glade that was a favorite for couples.

Rath was half-turned away from them, shielding his companion. His eyes were stone, an almost desperate hardness to them. The effect of his impenetrable stony picture was slightly ruined by the mussed hair and kiss swollen lips. Something akin to a stab of relief flashed in his eyes as he recognized them, though he didn't release the power he'd coiled in himself.

"Get out." He snapped, a direct order. One Zan probably would have obeyed as quick as he could on any other day but today.

"Rath who's your friend?" Tav asked curiously moving herself, and dragging Zan, to where they could see her. A feeling of dread hit Zan and he squeezed his eyes shut, he didn't want his wife to know about Q.

He opened his eyes slowly but all he saw was a cloak. A cloak with a hood completely obscuring the identity of the trembling figure underneath. Rath's arm was wrapped around her form her waist to her head, holding her pressed into his chest with his hand securing the hood over her face.

"Leave." The temperate in the clearing dropped several degrees from the ice in his voice, from the complete coldness without any love or recognition for his oldest friend. Just a quiet, intense desperation to keep his secret.

The hidden figure began to tremble more violently at his tones causing Rath's arm to involuntarily tighten to the point of pain around her. She was terrified, completely and utterly terrified Zan realized. She was so scared someone would learn her secret, take it away from her that she was shaking uncontrollable.

And she should be terrified, terrified that if had been anyone other than Zan someone would have died. Either by Rath's hand or by the execution one of them would surely receive for the affair. Zan could easily guess that Rath had told the girl to keep her face hidden and not make any noise whatsoever, no matter what happened. That Rath had told her to run and that she'd disobeyed and now he ready to kill to keep his secret.

Something snapped in Zan, this whole ridiculous deadly situation infuriating him to the point of no return. Something had to change.

"Be. More. Discreet." He said using the same icy tones Rath had, spacing out the words to put as much snap in it he could.

Rath gave a flicker of a nod, a flicker that meant nothing to Zan's outrage.

Grabbing Tav he turned to go, pausing at the edge of the glen.

"My chambers, ASAP." He ordered, telling Rath that this discussion wasn't over, it was just starting.

They walked away for a few silent seconds before Tav broke into his mental tirade.

"Why was she shaking, Zan? And why was he hiding her face?" She sounded genuinely confused, adorably innocent.

He managed a smile for the woman he loved despite his raging annoyance. "She was frightened, so sacred they would be caught. Her face was hidden because Rath wants to keep her identity a secret."

Tav turned, that confused look still on her face. "why? I 'm happy he has someone, I'm sure everyone else would be too."

Zan paused, how to explain that it was forbidden, deadly, that their love would get them killed without exposing her identity? Choosing his words carefully he tried to tell only the truth.

"Because she's a liability. If the rebels ever found out about her, or who she was they'd use it against Rath, against us. They could exploit the weakness and use her as a pawn."

"She's already a pawn." Tav said astutely.

"What do you mean by that?" He asked, genuinely worried. Tav's wise eyes met his, all of her earlier confusion gone.

"She's a pawn between us and the First Order. By the Gods, they've already used Q against him so many times."

He was silent, Tav knew. She took his silence as a means to continue her realizations jumping out of her mouth as they hit her.

"She's been hurt because of this. The brainwashing and even the recent possession, it was all to get to Rath or because of him. And he's so oblivious of the risk to her. By the Gods, even now she should be in bed. She isn't strong enough for nighttime romps in the garden, her fever will probably flare up with the insanity…"

She trailed off her lovely eyes darkening with worry for her friend. Zan took the opportunity to ask what was bothering him.

"How long have you known about them and how did you find out?"

She brushed dirt off her shoulder. "Rath told me when we went to give Q her kitten.."

He cut in, in disbelief. "Rath told you?"

"Well, not exactly, I figured it out. The dog tags, they way he looks at her when he thinks nobody is watching and how ridiculously nervous he was about going to see her with that cat. I confronted him about it and he didn't admit that he was in love with her but he didn't exactly deny it either."

She paused, smiling at him, talking in a more jovial tone. 'But I didn't know until today that she returned the sentiment. I thought she was terrified of him. But then again I thought it was a case of unrequited love where Rath suffered nobly in silence like out of a romantic story…… I guess I was wrong there."

A wry smile. He returned it, feeling slightly better. 'Yeah, he wants me to release him from the engagement. He wants to Granix with her, Tav."

It felt good to finally be able to tell someone, to get that weight off of his chest.

She stopped walking, "Why don't you? They're good together, much better than him and Lonnie. Can't you see she makes him happy, Zan, nobody deserves to be as unhappy as they've been."

He looked at his wife with her romantic ideals, at the melancholy expression gracing her features. He sighed, she was Queen but still so naïve in the politics of war because he'd shielded her from it.

"Because it's suicide. We're at war, there's a rebellion and we're on shaky enough ground with the First Order. I undo the engagement and we'll have a coup, the people still believe in the prophecies and they'll revolt."

She opened her mouth.

"No. And you know I can't reveal Q's message this late after the face. 'Oh everybody we've hid something major from you. Those prophecies are kaput by the Siren's message. So Rath and Vilandra aren't getting married anymore. But Rath and the Siren, yes one of the forbidden Chosen, are!'"

He rolled his eyes at her. "We'd all be dead faster than you can blink."

She was silent as they walked up the palace steps, a sad look on her face. She understood the situation and it was obvious she hated it. "I with it could be different for them."

"Me too."

Her eyes met his, a touch of power glinting off of the ocean of her eyes. The ocean glimmered and darkened in dejection.

"But it's not different and she'll die because of it. Everything has its price."

It was a soft prediction, a promise. The power in her eyes giving her a touch of prescience echoing the Gods own words through the Siren. Everything has its price and Rath will pay it.

"And Rath?" he choked out, terrified of losing his friend.

She shrugged the power drifting away. "I have no idea, it remains to be seen."

He nodded and Tav squeezed his hand before wandering off in a different direction. He headed to his chambers to wait for Rath, Tav's words rankling in him. They were festering, building his own anger higher, his own distress to the point of no return.

He paced back and forth, trying to think of a way to get Rath to understand, to see that sometimes love wasn't enough.

The door opened with a sharp click revealing Rath's hulking form. He stalked in, shutting the door firmly behind him, with a steady stubborn look on his face.

"You should have known better." Zan said, opening up the conversation he knew would end in a fight.

Rath's posture shifted slightly, his hackles were already raised, ready on the defensive. "It was an accident, ok? I went for a run and found her in the woods looking for that stupid cat, Narka somehow got out and Q decided it was a god idea to disobey her healers, and me, and sneak out the window…"

Zan looked at Rath, utterly unimpressed. "And this led to your tongue down her throat in public how?"

Rath glared at him and made an annoyed sound. "She gets me so angry, to the point I almost lose control. But I can't stay mad at her, so I kissed her instead of apologizing."

Zan almost smiled at Rath's admission, he was so in love with her that he couldn't pretend with her. So far in but he still did everything, anything, he could to avoid words, avoid his own emotions and shortcomings.

But it wasn't enough and Zan knew it. He met Rath's eyes with a firm, unyielding gaze.

"This has to stop."

"No. I won't give her up and you can't make me. By the Gods, you said you wouldn't forbid me.." Rath's reaction had been immediate, an explosion of sound and a flurry of angry controlled gestures.

Zan let out a bitter laugh, did Rath really think he'd try and command him to leave her? "No, you can't give her up, you're too far gone already."

Another bitter laugh at Rath's stony silence, no refusal from him today. So Zan continued on. "But I'm not asking you to give her up."

Pure relief flitted in his copper gaze, replaced by the mere hint of confusion. "Then what are you talking about? I'll be more discreet."

'I'll be more discreet, just, just please don't take her away.' He didn't say the rest out loud but the silent request hung heavy between them all the same.

Zan rubbed his face, he didn't know what he wanted Rath to do, just that it couldn't continue this way or Q would die. Steeling himself he readied for the explosion that would eventually come.

"Discreet isn't enough and you know it. It's not just your life you're risking with this."

"You think I don't know that? You think the thought of her getting hurt doesn't haunt me every day?-" Rath abruptly cut himself off, as if he'd said too much already. He focused on trying to control his rapid breathing instead.

"I know you know the risks but does she?"

"Of course." It was a snap, edged with steel as if Zan was supremely stupid.

Zan pressed on. "But does she really understand them? These days she doesn't seem to understand much of anything; half the time she doesn't even know what when it is. Can you really say she understands the risks she's taking when she looks at the communicator like it's going to kill her?"

Rath's angry, annoyed eyes bored into him, his overwhelming protectiveness of her showing through. "She understood the risks when we started this and now even with everything she still wants to be mine."

'Be mine' not 'be with me' Zan noted the odd word choice, the almost possessive like terminology Rath always used when talking about her. Never referring to her as being in a relationship with him, but always as something of his, a favorite toy nobody could take away.

"Well sometimes that isn't enough. She may want to be with you but I doubt she wants what its turned into, what loving you has shown her." Zan sighed, sinking into a chair feeling tired. This wasn't the life she'd planned for herself.

Rath looked at him, an accusatory tone in his voice. "Explain yourself."

Zan looked up at Rath's imperial, demanding tone.

"Because of you she's seen war, become a pawn, been drawn into a world she didn't want. One full of political traps and secret meetings. By the Gods Rath, she's a pure and innocent creature, one built only for the beauty of the world. Not for this, not for seeing you kill, not for changing into a jaded little girl."

"Everybody changes. Besides why does it matter so much to you what she goes through?" The last part was accusatory, laced with an intense dose of jealousy and that ever present possessiveness.

"Because she's my friend, Rath. Because we talk, she's a good listener. Because I know how much watching you kill those men hurt her psyche. Because I know how much pain she's felt because of you, how much you've hurt her."

Zan had gotten close to Q in the past months, using her as confident. She always listened, even if she didn't always know what he was talking about, and gave the best advice she could. But Rath didn't care about any of that, he was fixated on the last statement.

"I've never so much as raised a hand to her and you know it. I've never hurt her." He yelled, getting right into Zan's face, his anger coursing off of him in waves.

Zan shook his head, not bothering to step back. "Physically no, you've never hit her but don't deny that your distance, your coldness hasn't hurt her. Or that because of you she keeps getting hurt. Gods, Rath, some people shouldn't ever have to know pain."

Rath didn't move away, the denial and defiance strong in his tones. "What pain she's known hasn't been because of me. It's all been the First Order."

Zan looked at Rath in disbelief, was Rath seriously in denial or did he just have no real idea? "What about when the two of you got attacked in the forest? Because I'm pretty sure that the opposing army was out to get you not her…"

Rath's face snapped away, not wanting to admit the truth or his mistakes in that situation. When Rath had come to after the incident he'd literally flipped a gasket. He'd torn himself up from the inside out with self-hate while at the same time taking his anger out on everyone else. He'd lectured Q then attempted to lock her in a tower to keep her safe, Zan shot the idea down making Rath settle from banning her from battles and putting a contingent of personal guards around her.

"That was one time." Rath finally said. Lost in the memory of waking up to her screams only to find her asleep on a stretcher beside him.

But Rath had to understand, had to see the reality, the futility of the situation. "No, Rath. It's not just one time, it's all the time. She keeps getting hurt… I mean look at the purification and the possession."

"Those were the First Order." Rath hissed, grabbing Zan by the shirt.

"No. They weren't, oh they might have been the ones to actually hurt her during the purification but it was your fault. It was because of your relationship they did it."

"No." Rath stated, dropping him and turning away in anguish, as if by not looking at Zan he didn't have to hear his words. Didn't have to let Zan shatter the fragile illusion of happiness he had.

"Yes. Why do you think you were in the room? Ever since she's been with you she's started to think on her own and want her own life, disobey the First Order. He knew the changes had something to do with you, not the true nature of the relationship but that you were the instigator."

Rath sat down roughly, all but collapsing into the chair, burying his face in his hands. It was like he couldn't stand up anymore, couldn't bear to support himself with this new knowledge. The knowledge that he caused pain to the only pure thing he'd ever touched. Hurt the only person who'd ever truly loved him for who he was.

"Because of me," he muttered to himself, not lifting his head from his hands.

Zan gingerly sat down next to him, putting a hand on his back realizing that Rath hadn't put it all together.

"I thought you knew."

Rath shook his head, glancing up for a mere second before dropping it down and talking in that same self-hating tone. "No….They fried her brain because of me…."

"I'm sorry then."

"Me too, Zan, me too. By the Gods, I'm so sorry." His voice had a quality Zan hated hearing.

Rath's eyes looked up, meeting Zan's with an unusual perceptiveness for his own personal affairs.

"The possession was because of me too, wasn't it?" The hara-kiri in his voice making slivers of ice edge every word.

Zan nodded slowly, "If they'd wanted to talk to me or the First Order they could have used any of the other Chosen. They were already open channels, but the message to you was about her. They greeted you like a brother-"

Rath stood while he was talking, walking away. Zan stopped talking, cutting himself off when Rath's fist collided with the mirror, going right through it. Breaking his own reflection in an effort to break the part of him that hurt her, breaking the surface so similar to her eyes.

"This is all some sick joke." He denied.

"It's reality. And it can't go on like this." Zan replied, hating taking away his happiness.

"But I love her. I love her so much." Rath's voice was choked and quiet, as if even admitting this much, admitting his need for her took a lot of effort. It said volumes about how he felt, how much he needed her that he would admit it to Zan, break the no-personal stuff contract they usually kept to.

"Sometimes love isn't enough." Zan said softly.

Rath braced his hand against the wall and opened his mouth to say something but the sound of screams cut him off.

They were loud, unending shrieks, immediately recognizable as Q's issuing from the direction of Rath's wing.

Rath immediately ran out of the room with Zan hot on his heels, racing through the palace like Royals never should. They got to the hallway where the screams were a deafening situation, the rampant desperation quickening Rath's already furious pace as he ran the last hew steps. Zan didn't bother to speed up; Rath would handle whatever threat it was, all the same he came bursting into 's sick room several steps after Rath.

Surveying the scene in front of him he walked up beside Rath, reaching out to place a hand on his shoulder. Q was on the bed, kneeling on her hands and knees with a healer behind and over her, restraining her as she screamed like the world was ending.

Zan risked a glance at Rath; his face was completely impassive indicating that he was at his most emotional. The more shut down, more closed off he was the tighter his control had to hold him.

Turning back to the bed Zan watched as another healer administered the sedative in one quick jab, the muscle relaxants took immediate effect causing her to go limp in the healers arms. She supported her from behind, holding her close. All of the forbidden touching of the Chosen rules gone out the window in her illness.

"What happened?" Zan asked the guard next to him softly.

The guard looked over; "I heard voices from inside so I came into check on her. But there was nobody here but her; she was just sitting on her bed having a conversation with an imaginary person. I thought it was odd and told her I was going to get the healers when a light flared from that plant and she just started screaming her head off staring at the rapidly dying plant the whole time. It's weird, Your Majesty, almost like I imagined it because the plant is fine now…."

Zan nodded, looking at the inconspicuous narka plant that had started her screaming fit. They all stood he, the guard and Rath, watching as the healer gently let Q fall to the bed lying on her stomach. The healer moved to start getting the bed ready but Rath stepped over.

"Let me do it."

His voice was firm as she shoved the woman out of his way, she was the same healer who'd seen Rath when Q first went comatose from the power burn out, seen what secrets burned in his gaze. Gracefully she stepped aside, her tall form easily matching Zan's own.

"General, give her this root the minute her eyes start to break. The fever is flaring up and this will help stop it, controlling the hysteria and relieving the pain." She handed him a small packet.

He took it with a nod; "You still on duty?"

The healer shook her head, "No and I know you'll stay with her tonight; checking on her more than the healer on duty."

Rath nodded at her turning his attention back to the bed even though in reality it had never left. He was always focused on Q when she was in the room, no matter how much it looked like he was ignoring her.

He walked over to the bed gently lifting Q to his chest and cradling her there with one arm while he pulled back the bedsheets. "Let's get you ready for bed."

It was odd, weird for Zan to see Rath caring. Rath willingly, naturally taking care of another person because they couldn't take care of themselves. But with Q it was so instinctive, so obvious that he wanted to help her. So obvious the kind of father he'd be if he ever had kids.

"Rath?" Her voice was slightly slurred as he put her down on the bed.

"I'm here."

"Don't do that again," was her slurred, scolding response.

Zan had no idea what she was talking about and apparently Rath had no clue either because he merely ignored the comment turning to Zan.

"Open that cabinet, Q needs another pillow." Rath said while handing Q her sleep doll.

Zan looked at Rath in disbelief, the bed already had so many pillows that Zan was surprised there was still room for Q on it. He was not going to add another pillow to the nest Rath had created for her and be the one responsible for her suffocation. He was about to tell Rath to go to hell when Q cut him off.

"I'm cold." She announced to them in a less slurred voice, the initial dose of the sedatives already starting to wear off.

Rath looked at her, at he feverish glitter in her eyes and the little beads of perspiration on her too pale skin.

"You're not cold. You're sweating." He informed her dryly as he reached out to feel her forehead.

"Sweating from the cold. Haven't you heard of cold sweat?" she informed him earnestly. Rath rolled his eyes at her and refrained from mentioning that she had the concept wrong, but nonetheless made another blanket appear out of nowhere.

He spread it over the bed and started tucking her in military style. Rath was tucking the bed so tight that it made Zan wonder if Q was going to be able to move under her covers. Rath went all the way around the bed yanking and tucking like a professional mother hen.

He glanced up; meeting Zan's amused gaze. "What?"

Zan merely smiled at the offensive tone Rath had used, it was so obvious he was overdoing it. Abruptly Q sat up, answering Zan's earlier question if she could move, causing Rath to look annoyed at his ruined hard work.

His annoyance increased tenfold when Q shoved her doll in his face demanding he kiss it goodnight.

"Get that out of my face." He snarled at her.

Zan rolled his eyes, Rath might love her but Q on sedatives was no match for his infernal pride.

She pouted at Rath for a second before fixing her eyes on Zan and shoving the doll at him. He smiled at her obligingly bending over to give the doll a kiss.

Rath gave him a disgusted look but he merely shrugged, he'd kissed enough random babies that one sick friend's doll was no big deal. Needless to say Rath had never kissed any babies.

Q cradled her doll to her chest talking to it as Rath attempted to push her back into a lying position. "See you got a goodnight kiss from the King! I know it's a big deal, much bigger than just a soldierboy's icky kiss because you're very special."

Zan laughed at the ticked off slightly jealous look on Rath's face.

"Lay down, you need to rest." Rath told her, pushing her shoulders.

She shook her head, propping herself against the pile of pillows. It seems having a ludicrous amount of pillows on a bed actually had a use.

"I will strap you to the bed." Rath threatened her.

She only smiled, like Zan she knew it was a completely empty threat. Rath might yell and scream at her or have a fit but he would never physically restrain her.

Rath made a frustrated noise before resorting to an untried, undocumented, topic. Gritting his teeth and visibly keeping his annoyance in check he spoke. "Lay down Q……….please?"

Shock covered her face; it was probably the first time he'd ever used the word in her presence. Ah, the lengths a man would go to for love.

For a moment she actually considered his request, the indecision knitting her tired brows before she shook her head at him.

Growling to himself about how it wasn't the magic word he shoved another pillow behind her back to make sure that a) she wouldn't have to use any strength to prop herself up and b) guarantee that nobody else in the north wing had any pillows. Or at least that's how Zan was rationalizing the extraneous pillow use.

Rath straightened up glaring at her for a second before ripping into her.

"You, disobedient, careless, little-"

"Rath get me some water." Her lilting voice cut through his angry one like a bright shining sword.

It pissed him off being ordered around, completely and utterly infuriated him, starting the pronounced tic in his cheek. It was obvious he was debating whether to break something, actually strap her to the bed or do the unthinkable and take the order.

Zan watched the interaction in fascination, at her completely expectant face watching Rath with the certainty that she had him wrapped around her finger and Rath's angry gaze staring back. Rath eyes snapped over to Zan as if only now realizing his presence.

"Zan, get Q some water." He snapped.

"If I'd wanted Zan to get me water I would have asked him, but I told you to." Her annoyed voice cut in, freezing Zan in his tracks.

"And you should know by now I don't do what I'm told." Rath argued back without missing a beat.

She rolled her eyes at him and an alarmingly strong tremor ran through her small frame. "Fine. Will you _please_ get me something to drink, Rath? So that I can talk to Zan." She lilted with extra emphasis on please and Rath.

He gave a curt nod and turned on his heel walking to the bathroom.

"I want the sparkly kind." She hollered after him.

Zan sat down on the edge of the bed. "What's up?"

She reached out grasping his left hand between her two small cold hands.

"I need a favor." Her lovely voice was urgent, beseeching, and utterly undeniable. Her big mirrored eyes pleading with him to help, making Zan understand a small bit why Rath couldn't refuse her anything.

"What is it?" he asked cautiously, willing to do anything except let them Granix.

"I need you to take care of Rath after I'm gone. To always look out for him like a brother, even next time, especially next time."

Looking at her was almost painful, seeing those dark onyx eyes reflecting too much knowledge, too much sadness back at him. To see her so pale, so small in the nest of pillows; a frail, wraith-like figure on her death bed with burning eyes and icy hands that clutched his like claws.

"Where will you go?" He asked, Tav's predictions of death burning in his ears.

"I'll die and Rath… Rath will be upset. He'll hurt himself if you don't take care of him and he can't, he's too important to what will happen."

Her eyes were boring into his, her fingers like claws clutching him as she talked with such a morbid certainty. Her voice was intense, breaking into a crack at the very end.

Hope flared in Zan. "If you know then can't you stop it, prevent it?"

"I could." She said softly.

Her eyes broke contact with his, drifting over to Rath stomping around the bathroom. Her gaze locked on him, her face changed; softening into a look of longing so intense that Zan's heart constricted. She stared at Rath for a second, drinking in the sight of him, her face displaying all the sadness of someone who knew she wouldn't have a happy ending.

"But I won't." She said softly, finally, sacrificially, her determined eyes meeting Zan's.

"What? Why not?" He couldn't understand her motivation, if she could stay she could be with Rath.

Her eyes, her attention was fully on Rath again, she was so attuned to him, to his moods, his movements. A small poignant smile illuminated her face before drifting away. Her eyes found Zan's again but they didn't really see him, her head, her heart were still focused on Rath.

"Because sometimes to really live you have to be willing to die."

There it was again, everything having a price. The emotion in her voice hit Zan like a truck, all the sadness and pain compounding into the bittersweet infinite reward that she knew the end result would be. By the Gods, she was willing to sacrifice herself, pretty much commit suicide for Rath, for whatever dream she saw for them, for the chance they would never have in this life.

Zan stared at her, at the small pallid maiden who was wise beyond her years, caught between a girl and a woman, infinitely aged, forever changed by a love that should have never been, a love that couldn't exist in their cruel world.

This was a moment that never should have come to pass, he realized sadly, but he would honor her request that shouldn't have been in a fair world.

"I promise." He told her softly.

She smiled as another tremor wracked her frame, the big dose of the sedative kicking in. In a flash of clarity he understood she'd been fighting it off to talk to him, to beg him for this favor.

Rath walked back over; Zan got up and let Rath take his place. Rath gave her shaking hands the glass of water, holding it steady while she drank.

"It's not sparkly kind." She whined at him, the slur back in her voice.

"Beggars can't be choosers." Was his short reply as he pushed her compliant form back into a lying position. She looked up at him with blurred eyes as he gently wiped the fever sweat from her face with a cool towel.

"You're so beautiful" she slurred at him, falling back into the sedative's iron grip.

Rath's face twisted and shifted, fighting within himself as he tried to respond. How to tell her how he felt, how much he adored her but he couldn't be weak, couldn't show the emotions that raged inside after so many years of keeping them locked away. His mouth opened and closed but no sound came out, leaving him to try and show her with his cold voice and unspoken words.

Finally he softly placed the cold towel on her forehead, brushing her hair out of the way.

"Sleep tight." He forced it out, as even saying that much was an epic battle.

Hurt covered her face, mountains of emotional pain erupting out of the forced calm of the sedatives. She'd needed something else, anything, to let her know that he actually cared, a word or two to assure her that he really did cherish her as much as his eyes occasionally said. But all she got was another disappointment.

She rolled angrily on her side, facing away from him, hiding the dark eyed pain from him. But he'd seen, he already knew. He reached out, his hand hovering over her hair tentative of touching it, but it didn't matter she was already asleep, lost disappointed to the sedative's grasp.

Zan stared at his friend at the man Q was willing to die for without regret. She was willing to give up her life, even when she didn't really know how he felt about her.

Rath's training, his emotional shutdown for so many years were such a huge problem in the relationship with the girl who couldn't hide her emotions if she tried. He'd felt nothing for years, living in a world of ice, until she'd come along and he still couldn't bear to let he world see that he felt.

Zan took the seat next to the bed, "You should have said something else."

Rath turned away from him, his hand finally dropping away. "I know… I just can't."

Zan thought of Tav, of how beautiful she was. So beautiful that he couldn't stop himself from telling her all the time, but for Rath it was so different. And he wanted to know how different.

"You do think she's beautiful, don't you?" He asked tentatively, wondering if Rath could still see beauty and appreciate it after walking so many years with death and her destruction.

Rath's voice was tight, restrained even now. "Whether she's screaming at me or hugging me. It's so much, too much…… even now when she's sick."

Zan nodded, that's how it was with Tav. For Rath Q was beauty, the definition of it, the thing he compared everything else too.

"Have you ever told her?"

The kitten jumped into Rath's lap with a scolding purr, settling itself on his lap even against his protests.

"No, she doesn't know. She can't know." The kitten bit his finger, causing him to scowl at it. Zan agreed with Narka, Rath's logic was convoluted and stupid, what man believed that a woman shouldn't know she was beautiful?

"Why not?"

Rath made an indistinct gesture with his hands. "It makes me weak…. I can't be weak. She can't see me that way, can't hear those words. But she knows, she has to know."

Zan looked at his friend, marveling at his emotional problems. In a dry voice he asked, "How can she know if you don't tell her?"

Rath was quiet a long time. "I show her."

A long pause.

"Ok, so maybe she doesn't exactly understand how I see her but she definitely knows I love her."

He sounded so sure but Zan didn't' have quite the same faith in nonverbal communication that Rath held. "Have you actually verbally told her that?"

Rath glared at him, petting the cat. "Of course."

Zan kept his glower up, Rath wasn't being completely honest.

Rath caved, "Once, and yes it was a dire situation. I thought I was dying."

"Rath! You have to tell her, she needs words. You may not need the words she gives you but Q thrives on them, it's her gift. She craves them, I mean you saw her face. If you love her, you have to say it to her before its too late."

"I can't." It was a frustrated snap.

"Why not? It's not hard. You can tell me how you feel about her, what's the problem?"

"I just can't ok? I want to, I really want to I just choke up. I open my mouth but the thoughts in my head never come out right, they jumble up and sound stupid." He was so frustrated, so fed up with himself.

Zan almost smiled, here was the crux of the problem. Rath didn't want to sound stupid, didn't want to be laughed at.

"It's not the military Rath, it's love. You don't have to be perfect all the time, you can sound stupid. In fact it's part of it, making mistakes and feeling things you've never felt before……"

Rath rubbed his face and Zan trailed off. "I'd do anything for her, I'd die willingly if it meant her safety and happiness."

Zan stared at him, suddenly seeing the other half of Q's willingness to let her life go for Rath. Rath was just as devoted, as high in the state. Zan loved Tav, but would he die for her?……. Yes, he would, but willingly, without regret, without bitterness at the loss of his own life?…… No, he wouldn't, he couldn't but Rath could and would if it came to that.

"If you'd do anything for her then you better figure out how to give her the words before its too late. She needs to hear them and if you never say it, you'll regret it."

Rath nodded, eyeing the cat speculatively. "Go away Zan. I need to practice this and I'm not doing it with you here."

Zan smiled standing up. Rath would do anything for the girl in the bed, even if it mean practicing admitting his feelings on a kitten. He was fighting his demons, one battle at a time.

Because sometimes to really live you have to be willing to die and sometimes you have to be willing to fight.

………………………….

Max woke up slowly, first feeling the hard floor under his back then opening his eyes. He stared up, puzzling at the odd shape sticking out of the wall as his eyes focused.

It was a butcher knife, a very bloody butcher knife, impaled in the wall several feet above his head.

Startled and deeply disturbed he looked around at his surroundings. The couch he and Michael had gotten at a yard sale was blown apart, sitting in two pieces looking like it had been hit by a cannon blast. Or an alien. The rest of the room was in equally bad shape, looking as if it had been blasted to bits in the middle of a tornado. The tv had a huge hole in it, chairs were knocked over, and part of the coffee table was somehow sticking out of the ceiling.

A flaming spatula went whizzing by above his head, causing Max to sit up in a freak fit.

What the hell…..?

"Get down, Maxwell!" Michael's warning tone.

Max hit the floor again, rolling over onto his stomach looking for Michael. He was in the kitchenette, throwing random kitchen utensils out of his drawers at someone across the room.

A cheese grater went spinning over Max's head like a ninja star. Deciding he was not in a safe place Max quickly body crawled over to the kitchenette. To Michael's home base and fort, where Isabel was in the corner crying to herself.

Max looked up at Michael. He looked horrible, blood was running down his side from a huge wound in his abdomen. The rest of him wasn't much better, covered in small lacerations.

"What the hell is going on here?" he asked, eyeing the battlegrounds and what seemed to be a small stalemate.

A voice answered from across the apartment, a tall figure appearing in the doorway to the bedroom. "Michael is getting ready to die."

Michael answered by launching a carving fork across the room, with it hitting its mark and burying itself into this stranger's shoulder. He was tall, humanoid with fair, symmetrical features. He looked the way Max had always felt humans should, not this puny attempt he saw on Earth.

The stranger continued on, still in that same creepy totally self-assured voice. "See Rath, Michael, whoever you are right now, you can't win. Because you can't kill me without hurting her, without killing her."

Michael stilled the power he'd been gathering in his hands abruptly.

Fonbar laughed, with the assurance that he had won. "See I've linked myself to her, if I go she goes. I'm fixing her, making her perfect. The past will rise, rise and blend, making her into perfection!"

Max felt bile rise in his throat, he'd done something to Maria.

"No." It was Michael's cold denial.

Max looked over at his friend, at the eyes that held a warrior's skill with the hatred borne of two lifetimes.

"Yes. Even if you don't believe me and kill me, you won't have Maria anymore. You'll have what you were in the end." His voice was cruel, dredging up painful memories for everyone in the room. Aiming to wound, but he didn't know Michael, what was meant to hurt only made him stronger.

A blast, lightening fast, came flying across the room aimed at Michael. For one horrible second Max thought it was the end, that Michael would die here and now. There was nothing he could do, but he'd forgotten about Isabel, she launched herself forward in one strained movement tackling Michael. They went down hard, barely missing the blast that exploded the oven a second later.

"No, no that's not true! Don't believe him Michael." It was Isabel, scrabbling to her feet with jerky, unnatural movements and tears cascading down her cheeks.

"Kivar told you to keep out of this, Vilandra." His voice was cold, commanding.

"Fuck Kivar." She spat at him, looking more like Isabel every second.

She turned urgently to Michael. "Listen to me, he can't kill you. It's hardwired into him."

In an attempt to throw the stranger off, stop the power buildup he had going Max reached blindly into the drawer next to him. He threw the first thing he got his hands on. Disappointed he watched the slinky go flying through the air, but as unaerodynamic as it was it still hit him in the forehead. God, they were in a pathetic spot.

Fonbar popped his neck from side to side, casually turning the slinky to ash. Turning his attention back to them he spoke again. That same half crazed look in his eyes that said he wasn't completely insane, just enough to want to kill them all to get Maria and be sane enough to do it.

"Sorry to disappoint you, Princess, but when my Uron died all of that hardwiring went right out the window. So Mickey here is fair game."

Holy fucking shit, this guy was scary. It was all Max could think as all the color drained out of Isabel's cheeks. This wasn't a joke, this wasn't some nightmare or a scene out of a horror movie. This was a real life mass murderer hell bent on eliminating his best friend, and probably him along with him.

Max turned to Michael, but he was just standing there, thinking. He wouldn't risk killing him and hurting Maria. But here he was willing to die, willing to fight for her. Always for her. Gods it never really changed for them, he was still just like Rath and Q, two kids so devoted to something that they'd die for a shot at living, for the other one. It was all coming full circle, Max only prayed this time had a different outcome, that one of them didn't have to die. Because this time, this time Michael's number was up, not Q's, not Maria's, but Michaels.

"It's time to say bye bye, now.-" He was across the room now, just feet away from them. Max tried desperately do something, anything, and a green barrier flashed to life.

"Wait!" It was Max's own voice, coming out of his throat.

Obediently, as if forced too Fonbar stopped, waiting. All eyes turned to Max and he remembered something he'd said earlier.

"You can't kill him without ruining her. They're bound, the Granix bond is still there, still strong. If he goes you get how Rath was at the end." Throwing a crazy man's words back in his face probably wasn't the smartest move Max Evans had ever made, but this time, this time it worked.

Fonbar blinked, as if this was now just occurring to him.

Max continued on, feeling Isabel and Michael fill up with power. "Except there will be one major difference."

"What's that?" he asked eagerly, twistedly. As if it could only be a positive difference, one where she turned to him as her salvation. One where she was the horrible Maria-puppet Isabel had talked about, where she was completely devoted to him.

Max gave him the nastiest smile he could. "Maria will succeed in killing herself. She won't be like Rath and mope around, she'll finish it."

Pure terror at the thought of her dead flashed in his eyes. Max could literally see the mental unbalance that lived in his mind, the sickness, and the obsession that had compounded over 50 years into a fanatical pitch.

He stepped closer, denial so strong in his eyes that he didn't notice how close he was to Michael. "I won't let her, she'll get over it.."

"But you won't."

It was Michael, a dagger out of every word, stabbing and stabbing as he reached out in a swift motion and grabbed Fonbar's head. He let his power loose, fueled by Isabel's guidance, shattering the other's mind, ruining his psyche but keeping his body alive just in case they were linked.

He crumpled to the ground and Michael gave him a savage kick in the gut to make sure he was out of commission. Another kick followed, and another and another, Michael's rage still flaring burning hot. Max watched impassively as Michael kicked and kicked taking out his anger at her pain on the fallen creature. The alien just lay there, drool starting to come out of his mouth.

"Two will live, one will shatter." Isabel said softly, putting her hand to her mouth.

"What?" Max asked, starting to remember how he got unconscious on the floor.

Isabel turned huge horrified eyes to them. "When I first met Kivar I was told that, two will live one will shatter. God it came true last time with Rath and it came true again."

She hugged herself tightly, as if she could push everything away. Her eyes met Max's, "I'm so sorry, it wasn't me. Vilandra….she's too strong, I'm fighting her even now. I'm sorry…"

She turned and fled, running from a past she couldn't escape and a future she wasn't sure she could change. Helping her family the only way she knew how, by keeping herself away so she couldn't hurt them.

Max watched her go, confused and hurt. He turned to Michael who was also staggering towards the door. He walked over, grabbing Michael. "Whoa there buddy, where do you think you're going like that?"

Michael struggled, "Maria. He did something to Maria."

Max tightened his grip, Michael was like a wild animal. His terror over Maria combining with the blood loss to a state of frenzy. "Not like that you're not. Let me heal you first."

Michael shoved him, "No. She's hurt Weren't you listening he did something to her. I have to get to Maria."

Max grabbed him again, trying to drown out the blank terror in his friend's voice. "No. If you show up looking like this, she'll freak and take that deal."

"Maria." He said it again, thoroughly struggling to stay on his feet at this point. It was like his mantra as he tried to step away, the only thing driving him to keep conscious.

Max turned him around, forcing their eyes to meet. Forcing the connection to spring to life between them. Forcing the wound to heal, knitting the broken arm back together, healing the punctured lung.

All the while he was hit with the flashes of the fight. Of Michael being launched backwards into his couch, snapping it in two. Of Michael using a baseball bat to connect with the other's head and finding out that didn't work. A kaleidoscope of bursts of power that didn't work because they were too well matched. Of fists and knees being thrown and dodged. It went faster and faster, all of the horrible images blending together into one deadly fight.

He pulled away, sitting back from where they'd fallen. Michael sat up slowly, his hands slipping in his blood. Then he stood with a glare at Max.

"To Maria." He said heading for the door after pulling Max up.

Max took one last glance at the ruined figure on the floor, the body without a mind.

"To Maria." Max echoed, thrusting his hand into the air, feeling oddly light hearted.

………………

With Alex gone they were at a lack of what to do. Tess couldn't stand the silence that engulfed the room so she started rifling through the movie collection, looking for something that didn't involve death or stalking in any way shape or form. Unable to find any movies that met that criteria she decided to settle for something with a happy ending.

She yanked out the Little Mermaid, thinking the girls could use some good sing alongs, plus it was about love triumphing over evil and to top it all off it would annoy the peaches out of Kyle.

"We're watching "The Little Mermaid" and we're gonna have a darn good time doing it too!" She announced to the room.

Kyle made a disgusted sound but didn't protest at her glare, Liz looked up from where she was huddled next to Maria and gave her a weak smile. Maria herself was just staring off into space, a worried look on her face.

Tess put the video in and decided they might as well have some snacks to keep Kyle quiet because he had a bad habit of making sarcastic remarks and ruining the poignancy of the moment.

"I'm gonna make some popcorn, who wants a soda?"

"Me, protecting you ladies is hard work." Kyle told her from his perch watching the front door.

"I'll take one. What about you Maria?" Liz asked turning to Maria.

Maria didn't answer so Liz gave her a little shake. "What's wrong babe?"

Maria's eyes focused to her friend. "I don't feel so hot."

Liz looked worried and stroked her hair, "What's wrong, chica?"

Maria shook her head as if to clear it and opened her mouth to speak but no sound came out.

She turned redder, and seemed to burn with an unholy light. She burned brighter still, her face contorting with pain as she reached up to grab her throat.

Her eyes flew open revealing shattered mirrors. The moment lasted, growing and fermenting before finally breaking.

There was a beat of silence in the room as everyone stared, nobody sure what had just happened.

"Maria?" Liz asked softly, reaching out to tentatively touch her.

A shudder passed through her but her eyes opened again, revealing huge terrified mirrors.

She looked around wildly then scrabbled away, fleeing into the kitchen.

They followed her tentatively, not sure if it was Maria anymore. She was curled up against the cabinets, clutching her knees to her chest, horribly reminiscent of the blank hysteria from the night before.

"Maria?" Liz asked squatting down a foot away from her.

She didn't respond, just trembled with big wet tears starting to fall down her face.

Tess looked at the mirrored eyes and sighed.

"Q?" she tried desperately.

Maria's head snapped up, eyeing her warily.

"Who….who are you?" Her voice was thick, holding that lilting unearthly accent close.

Tess settled herself on the floor. "My name is Tess, but once I was called Tav."

"I want Rath." It was a terrified demand.

Tess wasn't sure what to say to that, her eyes met Liz's in understanding, in terror.

"He's on his way."


	25. Chapter 20

AN: First off, as always I heart all of the reviews. For this part I've got to be honest, I had a hard time writing it, at one point there was a lack of inspiration and then I saw Sugar randomly at a party and all the inspiration came back. So look for a Butch-inspired Michael flip out. Hah anyways, this part might have more mistakes (formatting and spelling) bc my desktop comp from the mid 90s finally decided to explode. So i'm on my new laptop, which doesn't have a word processor on it yet, just wordpad which means everything spelling is hand checked. Fab.

Candylovin Fehrian: I hope you had a good vacation. Yep Fonbar is bye bye, which is hoorah but he did leave Maria in a nasty state. Isabel, Isabel isn't out of the woods yet.

spaceboi's pixie: Thanks! I'm happy you like it.

musicalwonder: I hope your at a lack of words for a good reason. Hah, anyway I'm happy you like it.

higherbeingfriendsfan: Yay for flashbacks, Zan, just like Max is such a good viewpoint for watching Maria and Michael. Max and Zan have always been there for Michael, emotionally, helping him. Isabel did the best she could, but sometimes our best isn't enough.

finkpishnets: Roswell confusion, I love it. Happy you liked the part and that its believable enough to get it all mixed up with the show.

Collision Part 20 "Broken Mirrors"

_I can't be held responsible  
She was touching her face  
And I won't be held responsible  
She fell in love in the first place _

For the life of me I cannot remember  
What made us think that we were wise and  
We'd never compromise  
For the life of me I cannot believe  
We'd ever die for these sins

_"Freshman" Bronson Aroyo _

"I want Rath." It was a terrified demand, her huge mirrored eyes begging, craving his presence.

Tess's eyes met Liz's in understanding, in terror. This was bad, very bad and she had no idea how to fix it.

"He's on his way." She told the other girl softly, praying it was true.

She seemed somewhat mollified by this answer, some of her rampant hysteria melting into a controllable panic. Warily she looked at Liz and Mrs.DeLuca.

"Who are they?" The lilting accent was thick, coated with wariness, unused to speaking English.

"That's Liz, your best friend. And I'm your mother, or Maria's, who's body you're in, mother." Mrs.DeLuca told her kindly, gently as if speaking to a child.

"I've never had a mother." The girl confessed tentatively, eyeing Mrs.DeLuca with an odd sort of intensity. She still seemed terrified, still with those unstoppable tears rolling down her cheeks. But she also seemed fascinated, a bit of her lonlieness showing through, her craving for the mother she never had.

Mrs.DeLuca sat down on the floor next to her, close enough for comfort but far enough for safety. "Well why don't you think of me as yours then."

The girl considered this offer for a minute, indecision knitting together Maria's features. "Ok."

She paused for a minute, searching for words. Still very much a child, with all the innocent acceptance and wonder of someone who hand't known the cruel hand of fate yet. Of the girl she'd been in life, not the wise, tempered creature she was in death. "If your my mother can I ask you a question?"

Mrs.DeLuca nodded.

The girl wiped the unfamiliar wetness on her face in confusion, in fear, all of her earlier hysteria coming back. "What's this?...What's happening to me? Where am I?"

Mrs.DeLuca's voice was calm and patient, showing none of her rampant concerns. "Those are tears, you're crying. It happens when we get upset."

Q still had a blank look on her face so Tess chimed in. "Like on Antar how our eyes get dark, here we have tears."

She nodded, now she understood.

Mrs.DeLuca continued on, "I don't know what's happening to you or my daughter right now. But your on Earth, in my daugther's body.-"

"Maria?" Q asked tentatively, already knowing the answer from the memories that swirled in her head.

Liz chimed in, wanting, craving to know that somewhere in that mind her best friend still existed. "Yes, Maria. She's your future."

"What do you mean?" She was terrified all over again, the uncertaintiy, the unknowing compounding in her mind. She was far away from home, remembering only the pain and all she wanted was to go back again.

"What's the last thing you remember?" Tess asked.

Her face screwed up in concentration, but still somehow managing to look regal with the unconcious grace that ran in her. Slowly, as if recalling everything through a haze she spoke, her lilt turning even the simple story into a song.

"I...I was going to the council. I had to sing the invocation for the meeting and I was late because there had been problems with the baby's birth. When I got there Rath was talking, something about the colonies, he looked at me. He usually doesn't look directly at me in public, it's too dangerous, because then I look bacn and I can't hide it...but today he looked. He was amused by my lateness and it annoyed me. Then the priest asked me to sing the invocation and I opened my mouth but it started to burn."

She paused, the pain flaring up again. The pain, the suffering pouring out into her voice now for all to hear. "It burned and burned, sending everything to ash, eating me alive. All of the power coursing through me and all I could focus on was Rath, on his face...but it wasn't enough. It kept burning so much, so bright until...until I was here."

Tess nodded, the possession. Gods, that had been such a horrible time, a painful time for all of them. She'd been terrified for Q as she went through the power burnout, lost in a delerious fever but now she wondered if she was terrified for the right person. If Q was here then where was Maria? Was she there, was she the one lost in the burning delerium that encompassed Q's days? It was a horrible thought, a horrible concept that was a very probably reality.

"The possession. The channelling, the Gods opened you up as a channel to deliver a divine message." She said softly, the others knew of the flashes from that time period so close to the end of all their lives.

"But why...why am I here?" She sounded so lost, so abandoned.

Mrs.DeLuca caught Tess's eye, motioning for her to slip over to the edge of the kitchen. Tess did, listening idly as Liz told Q about Maria and Michael, about how she died, they all died, about the future she would have.

"Do you know what happened?" Mrs.DeLuca's voice was soft, urgent, with a mother's protective fury.

Tess shook her head, thinking. "No. The only thing I can think of is how time works on Antar. Time exists in multiple dimensions, kind of like being on all the different time zones. It's not like here, where time flows only in one direction, forward like a river. On Antar time is more advanced, more flexible."

Mrs.DeLuca looked blank.

So she tried agian, "Think of it like a tree, time goes out in all different directions curving back on itself. And where the branches touch the two different times meld, letting the past flare to life in the future and vice versa."

Mrs.DeLuca nodded, "I follow, but why now?"

Tess thought hard about all that Nacedo had told her. All that she knew about the mind. "Maria's mind is weak right now from the mindwarp last night. When Q got possessed she wasn't there, only the Gods were, so her mind had to go somewhere. I assume because Maria's walls were so weak Q came here, to now, because there was no room for her then..."

It was all just a theory, a hope, an explanation for what she didn't really understand.

But it was all they had.

"And if Q is here Maria must be there...When Q first woke up after her fever broke she asked for Michael, begged and pleaded for him. There were times after it that it wasn't Q...she was green eyed and got hysterical, wanting Michael. It terrified me, I thought she was losing her mind...but now I think it was Maria. Those moments were where Q's mind was weak enough for Maria to take over because Q is here..."

Mrs.DeLuca tapped her finger against her chin thoughtfully. "So Q's here and Maria's in the past, on another planet, asking for Michael."

"NO!" It was a wail, cutting off Tess's answer, effectively ending the conversation. She turned to look, Q was sobbing now, big loud squalls wracking her body.

"What's wrong?" It was Mrs.DeLuca, immediately back by the distressed girl's side. Ready to comfort, ready to restrain.

"He's dead, he can't be dead." She turned into her adoptive mother's arms, letting her sobs take her.

"Who's dead, sweetie?"

"Rath...he's not supposed to die." She was half in denial, half in a horrible reality where her life wasn't going on anymore. A reality where she was ghost from the past, one who haunted Maria's life, whose mistakes and decisions still caused ramifications.

Mrs.DeLuca shot Liz the look, the one that said what have you done upsetting this poor fragile creature.

To Q she murmured soothingly, "He's not dead, he's just a little different that's all. He's Michael now, just like your Maria. Time changes, now the two of you are different people but have all the freedom to be together that you never had on Antar."

Q looked up at this, "We don't have to hide?"

"Nope, and I'll tell you something else. Before you and Rath died last time you got married, you Granixed."

Her tears stopped completely, pure joy washing across her features, banishing the terror and sorrow from moments before. Her emotions were so easy to read, just like last time, the last life where she couldn't hide them.

"My prayers are answered then." Her liliting tones were full of wonder, of love and thanks for Gods that no one on Earth could comprehend.

She smiled at them and made a confession. "It's the only thing I ever asked the Gods for myself. Him, the chance to be with him."

The love she held for him, even now shone so brightly that it was hard to look upon her. Hard to see something so pure in her face, a love untouched by human greed or hatred, untouched by selfish desires and broken hearts. This was true love, the archetype, the myth that everyone on Earth searched for, longed for, and few found. In a way it's beauty, shining on her face, made the watchers sad, tinged their hearts with jealousy and made them want to look away in their own inadequacy but they couldn't. Something stronger, that terrible irresitable draw kept their eyes rooted to her open face, kept them staring while their own loves and desires seemed pale, weak and tainted compared to this.

Tess turned away, feeling an irrational urge to throttle the girl and scream that it wasn't real. But it was, for Q, for Rath, it was real, this was their reality, their curse. Because as beautiful as it was Antar was just as twisted and unfair as Earth, and this pure thing they had created coulldn't exist there. Couldn't stand the test of time against curses and politics, couldn't resist or prevent the tainting that would touch their relationship, couldn't stop the inevitable downfall they would have. Because anywhere, especially on Antar, jealousy runs rampant; twisting souls to do horrible things to their friends, to their family, all in the name of power. And they would fall, it was written, it had happened in the here and now, betrayed by their friends, their family because the love they had twisted others souls in jealousy, in hate, in disbelief.

But Tess couldn't keep her eyes away, couldn't resist the pull of seeing her friend as she once was. This was The Siren of Antar at her core, drawing eyes to her magnetically, letting the others, the world, feel through her. Experience what she felt, know her pain, her lonlieness and her joy. This was her gift, to bring people together, to bridge the gaps built by fear and prejudice, and let them know herself.

She couldn't keep her eyes from gazing on that pure, innocent face, perhaps the only true innocent Tess had ever known. The sweetness of her gaze hurt to look at because she knew the end of the story, knew that in just a few short weeks the innoncent in front of her would be lost. Would be locked in a dungeon, would lose that innocence, that blind faith in others, would know pain, would become pain. And she would die a senseless death, where were her Gods that she loved so well when she got tortured? Where were they when she died in her husband's arms a day after her marriage? Where would they be, how could they let it all go so horribly wrong for someone they cherished? It was so different for Q from the rest of them, Tess knew as surely as she knew the power that ran in her veins that she had had to die. That Tav, Zan, Lonnie and Rath had no other choice, their paths were set with too many mistakes, laden with too many misjudgements and broken dreams. They were unpure, they'd lived selfish lives, sinned and been arrogant, thinking nothing or nobody could touch them, not even the Gods. And they had died for it, they had paid their penance. But Q...Q's only sin was loving Rath, yet she suffered the same fate, met the same end. It wasn't just, but it was how it had come to be. And now she was just a ghost, memories living on here while on Antar a mysterious legend, one shrouded in mystery and slowly fading away. The Chosen who'd died unexpectedly.

Though looking at her some of that anger drifted away, it wasn't the same for Q. It wasn't unexpected and hated, it was chosen. She chose her fate, knew the consequences, the pain she would feel and took it anyway, embraced her death willingly.

And that made all the difference.

Mrs.DeLuca wiped a tear away, feeling all the things Tess felt and wanting, needing to feel more. To see the beauty of her love closer, to use it as a cloak to wrap around her own soul, to begin to believe in love again, put faith in what had once broken her soul with the abandonement of Maria's father.

"Why don't you tell us about Rath?" It was a gentle suggestion, meant to pass the time, but with far reaching touches.

Q looked up, feeling oddly liberated. She'd never really gotten to talk to anyone about him or the relationship, to spill her fears and share the little things. Because of the secresy she was bound to silence, to keeping all of it to herself, trying to navigate it with only the occasional advice from Arhal. So this, this freely given oppurtunity was a treat.

Oddly enough her tears started again, rolling down her face.

"He's everything."

She paused, taking a wracking gulp of air.

"He shouldn't be, he can't be...but he is."

She paused again, grappling for words to describe it. "He...he just...he makes me feel. He sees me, he really sees me, without the glamour of the Chosen, past the voice, past the little walls I put up. And the beautiful thing is he likes me for it, he sees me and doesn't turn away..."

She smiled, conveying the beauty of it, letting them see how much it meant to her. How much every moment with him was cherished and remembered by her, how every glance, every casual touch meant the world to her. "He's perfect."

She paused, reconsidering her last statement at everyone's disbelieving looks. This was a chance for her to vent without Rath there to go off on her or get all snarky. Taking her chance she started ticking his faults off on her fingers, one by one.

"Well not exactly. He's not good with people, most of the planet is terrified of him. And he has no patience or manners or respect for anyone around him. He always talks about himself and gets offended really easily. He's mean and rude which may be why people are always trying to kill him. Oh he's definitely not good with words, or emotions."

"He, um, sounds like a peach." Mrs.DeLuca finally said her voice heavy with sarcasm.

"What's a peach?...Tav is Rath a peach?" She turned her utterly blank expression to Tess. She was so confused at the simple Earth expression.

Tess couldn't help it, she laughed. This was so Q, she was always missing the point or not getting the joke. She'd been so sheltered, so protected that so many regular expressions or refrences even back on Antar were beyond her. Her face would screw up in concentration as she tried to work it out, then she'd give up and turn to Rath to ask him what it meant. And Rath would just pat her on her head or distract her, never doing anything to jepordize her innocence.

"What she means is he doesn't sound like a very good boyfriend."

Ah, there it was. The understanding dawned in her face, followed shortly by the implication. A bit of horror showed there and she quickly worked to dispel that notion. "Oh no, he's amazing. He's different with me, he's almost gentle. Rath takes care of me, he protects me and doesn't let anybody be mean to me and he shows me things. Beautiful things, precious things making everything go all fluttery..."

She beamed at them, though the smile slowly faded away. "But sometimes I wish he'd use words. Sometimes all I want is to hear him say it a confirmation for what I see in his eyes..."

"So he doesn't tell you he loves you." Mrs.DeLuca's scolding tones, as if she could scold Rath into proper behavior from half a century later.

Q shook her head from side to side, a few more tears escaping. "He did once...though he did pass out right after. And one time he let it slip that he likes my voice."

She sounded so excited about these little things, about these pathetic dog scraps he'd given her. It was painfully obvious she held these small verbal incidents close, relishing them, making them into something bigger than they were. Making a comment made in pasisng into something gargantuan, but it was all he'd given her, all she had to correlate with all of the unspoken words. In a way it was pathetic, that someone so obviously beautiful and gifted should have to wonder, should have to search and filter his words to know how he felt and to never really be sure that what he said he meant.

"Sweetie, that's not enough. He should be giving you so much more." Mrs.DeLuca's voice was pitying, gentle. Fury at this man who would take advantage of her inexperience to short change her, as if he did it all on purpose.

"But he does." Her lilting tones were so earnest, her true belief in him shining through even through the tears she couldn't seem to make stop. Her face was shining with that same earnestness, that same unshakable belief that Rath was giving her gold instead of the scraps of tinfoil everyone else saw in the relationship.

"He gives me things all the time, just not with words. He made me a knife because I couldn't manage any of the ones he tried to teach me on. So he made me my own, he only makes his own weapons so this was big for him. You should see it, it's so beautiful, it's disguised as a bracelet, and it's spring activated and everything. And if I ever use it he made it so he would know, so that he could come and take care of whoever was bothering me."

Tess could have laughed, a knife. Instead of jewelry, flowers or chocolate Rath gives the girl a knife. It was so him, making her something with his hands, something that he was good at because he couldn't manage to tell her. But Q was still talking, so she turned her attention back to her words, her story.

"He always takes care of me, even if I'm being ridiculous. Once I accidentally got drunk and he took care of me, he carried me to my room and got me ready for bed even when I tried to make him feed an imaginary pet... He was so annoyed but he still made sure I was ok, that I would go to sleep. Rath never takes care of anyone but me, if you fell and broke your arm he'd probably tell you to stop complaining it was just an arm. But if I fell, he'd break whatever made me fall then make my arm all better all while babying me. See he's really sweet, just not in the usual ways."

This time she did laugh, Q sounded so much like Maria in this moment. In the way she babbled on, in the ridiculous, unflattering way she tried to describe Rath as being good while he really just came off looking like an ass. It was the exact same tones, same convoluted reasonings Maria used when trying to explain to Liz how Michael's gruffness wasn't as bad as it seemed.

Q sat back, wiping her tears away with one hand while the other reached for the dog tags that weren't there. Her voice was softer now, more reverent, her hand still searching for the missing dog tags.

"He gave me his dog tags, he gave it all up for me. I wish I could make you understand what it means, really understand how much this is to him but I can only try. He wore them for 11 years, he never took them off, even after the training, even after he mastered them all and became the General. He was a slave to them, a slave to duty, a slave to the life he didn't want but was stuck with. But he gave them to me, he gave it all up. He's abandoned duty, abandoned Zan's orders that we can't be together."

She looked at each of them, holding their eyes in a steady tear filled, emotional gaze. "He chose me, to put me first above everything, above his life, above his family, above the past that haunts him."

Her eyes met her adoptive mother's again. "And if that isn't enough, if that doesn't say I love you, I don't know what does."

She let out a sob, burying her face in her hands. "I want him. Where is he?"

Liz's voice was calm as she moved to embrace the other girl, the girl back again to the verge of hysteria. "He's on his way."

She pushed Liz away, "I don't want you, I want Rath. He'll make it all better, he'll take me home."

She looked around at all their unsure, unknowing faces, crying in earnest now. "He's not coming is he? He's doing something stupid. He's fighting isn't he? Powers That Be, I wish he didn't have to fight, he shouldn't have to. I wish I could fight for him, keep him safe, put him in a little bottle where nobody could hurt him and he couldn't hurt himself."

She wrapped her arms tightly around herself, as if by hugging herself tightly she was hugging him, keeping him safe.

Liz stared at her, at the emotional scared wreck she was becoming and her heart seized. She was so sweet but so scared. "I can try and call Max and see what's happening."

Her tear stained face looked up, "He's Zan's rising, right?"

Tess nodded as Liz talked softly into her cell phone.

"You're not married this time around." It was a statement, an acute observation noticed even through her own pain. This was how she'd been in life, sporadic, always observing, putting others before herself.

"No, we're not. He's with Liz."

Q looked back without blinking, Maria's mirrored gaze nearly opaque with things Tess could never understand. "I know."

She paused as if considering what she should reveal. "She's who the prophecies meant. You and Zan had love but it wasn't true. You had that with someone else before, and you'll have it again...when you're ready."

Tess looked away, slightly unnerved. It brought back wisps of memories, whispers of the love she'd had before Zan, the ghost of Kelar rising before her eyes. Her last words echoed, 'and you'll have it again'. Tess didn't know what she meant by that, didn't have time to think about it, and didn't have time to hope.

Liz came back over, squatting gently by Maria's living past. "He's on his way. Max says they'll be here in a few minutes, they just left the apartment."

Mrs.DeLuca looked up, intensely. "So it's finished then."

Liz agreed, "It's finished."

"And Michael's fine?"

She hesitated. "He was yelling at Max to put Maria on the phone. He's apparently frantic about her."

They looked at Q, she stared back. "May I use your communicator?"

Liz stared back, uncomphrehending. Q pointed Maria's delicate hand at the phone. Liz handed it over, intrigued.

Q stared at it, inspecting it. Apparently satisfied with what she saw she held it up to her face, unknowingly upside down. "Call Rath."

It didn't do anything.

She tried again. "Connect to Arhal."

Nothing.

This time her face screwed up. "I want Rath."

She looked up at them, "It's broken."

"Um, yeah." Mrs.DeLuca said, looking at her strangely.

"They're here." Kyle yelled into the kitchen.

Q was into the other room faster than it was humanly possible to move.

Kyle was quizzing the new arrivals, stringently keeping to Michael's security orders. "Max, when did I get you druunnkkk?"

Max looked pointedly at Mrs.DeLuca through the window before answering. "When Liz had the blind date."

Kyle nodded, he looked to Michael who was about ready to break down the door. "Guerin, what hockey team do I root for?"

Tess whacked him in the back of the head, not the smartest idea considering he was holding a rifle. "What, it was the only thing I could think of."

Michael looked pissed. "The Capitals, now open the door, damnit."

Kyle made a face but opened the door all the same. Michael shoved by him, immediately going over to Maria.

"Maria, are you ok? Did he hurt-" He stopped dead, cutting himself off when he saw her eyes. Her eyes that weren't green, but the mirrored quality that he knew so well in the last life.

"Rath?" The lilting tones he'd once loved now turned his heart in fear. He squeezed his eyes shut, in disbeleif, in horror, in truth.

She was so close to him now, touching his chest with hands, peering up into his face looking for something familiar. He opened his eyes, looking down into hers.

She turned away, more tears rolling down her cheeks. She wandered over to the couch dejectedly, "You're not really Rath are you?"

"No, but I can let you talk to him..." He was trying to be gentle, to be nice even though he really just wanted Maria. He let the change come, let his eyes darken for once without a fight. Let his past rise, for the second time that day.

Rath came, roaring to life in Michael's face. Just as quickly he was over by the couch. But it wasn't like with Maria and Q, this wasn't Rath as he'd been in life. This was still Rath as he was in death, not fully healed from the shattering of his soul, still bitter and angry from losing his wife, from the hand that fate dealt him.

He sat down on the couch next to her, reaching out to turn her to face him roughly, but oddly gentle at the same time. It was if he was trying to be as gentle as he could but it wasn't quite working, as though he didn't quite grasp the concept.

"Q?"

She looked up at Michael's face and saw Rath staring back at her. Shaking she crawled into his lap like a small child seeking comfort, like she'd done so many years before on the night of her marriage. But for her that hadn't come to pass yet, but for Rath it had, dredging up memories of that night.

"I'm scared. I want to go home." She mumbled into his chest, clutching him.

"I know, baby. I know." He muttered, an attempt at soothing. Realizing he wasn't doing any good he fell back on his regular comfort tactic.

A kiss.

It had always struck Zan as weird that Rath would use the endearment baby when he detested kids. And now, now it struck Kyle in the same way causing him to snigger.

Kyle's childish noise caused Rath to snap away, glaring at him. "Out."

His dark eyes glanced around. "Everyone. Now."

People started to file out of the room, except Mrs.DeLuca. She stood there, facing him down.

He glared back, utilizing the glare that sent men running, that caused armies to surrender. "I said out. Now go, woman."

She didn't balk at his gaze or threatening, dangerous tones. She was a DeLuca woman and no alien soldier in a teenage boy's body was match for her.

"I'm not leaving you alone with my daughter."

Why not? he wanted to scream, this was his wife, his other half, didn't he deserve some alone time?

"She's not your kid so get out." He sounded so sure of himself, so sure of his effect on others, so final, but he'd never met Amy DeLuca.

Q lifted her head from his chest, "But Rath she is my mother! She adopted me."

He looked dumbfounded for a moment, he couldn't insult his wife by calling the idea the stupidest thing he'd ever heard and definitely couldn't kick her adoptive mother's butt without some serious consequences. Plus part of him, though a very small part, was terrified by this DeLuca woman.

"Well I married you." He muttered looking away, realizing that for Q that hadn't happened yet. For her they had no marriage, it was all in his mind, all 35 hours just in his memory right now.

"I know, they told me... Was it nice? Our marriage, I mean." Her voice was soft, her curiosity and cravings floating in the velvet tones.

He squeezed his eyes shut, the old bittersweet pain flaring up. He held her just a bit tighter, letting his hands caress her back. Gods, how could he answer this innocent question...how could he tell her that she died so soon after the marriage that they never had a chance? That with her he'd died too, that every time anyone said the word marriage or Granix he wanted to slit his wrists all over again and scream and scream.

"Yes, it was." he said finally, softly.

"Q...do something for me this time, ok baby?"

"Anything you want." She said looking up, eager to please, to banish the lurking sadness that covered his features.

He kissed her forehead, "Keep me awake, don't let me fall asleep because I don't want to miss anything."

"Ok." He kissed her forehead again at her answer, falling silent, slipping into the memories he couldn't escape.

Q bit her lip, tapping him on the nose to get his attention. In a quiet, contemplative, tentavively hopeful voice she asked him something. "They said that here we don't have to hide...so we should stay here..."

People crept slowly back into the room at this comment. They didn't want Q and Rath, they wanted Michael and Maria.

Rath looked at her for a long time, options and indecisions playing across his face. Finally he broke the truth to her, the one that cut them both like knives. "We can't. You have to go back, you have to live in our time."

She looked so sad, so devastated by his final call. So she did what she always did when he didn't do what she wanted; she whined. "But Raaaaatthhhh..."

He was visibly weakening, rubbing her back in small circles. In an attempt to be strong, to avoid her pleading gaze he gently guided her head to lean on his shoulder.

"Pleeaaaseeee, Rathhhhh." She was on the verge of tears again, knowing that Rath couldn't handle tears. He could handle blood, gore, a missing arm, but tears would make him cave completely.

Kyle to the rescue, he jumped in, cutting off Rath's opening mouth. "But don't you want to get married, to Granix? If you stay here you miss out on that...you miss out on all this."

She paused, thinking about this. Then she glared at him.

"Shut up...you...you"

She was searching for a word, some epithet filthy enough to describe him, unable to come up with anything she looked at his shirt, "The Grasshopper who sang all summer" with a picture of a grasshopper in a tophat.

"You Grasshopper, you." She finished triumphantly, as if she'd insulted and scolded him for undoing all of her whining.

Everyone in the room froze, turning slowly to look at Kyle. Kyle looked back, like a deer in the headlights.

Finally Rath broke the silence, "The Grasshopper will break the mirror."

He turned back to Q who was looking at him expectantly, slightly sadly.

"Her eyes...the mirror...the mirror between the past and the present..." Max reasoned aloud.

Kyle still just stood there, thinking. Figuring out what to do in his little hero mind. He'd saved the world from a scorpion, then saved Michael's world by saving Maria. And now was the biggest Scooby Mystery of all, how to get Maria back.

"Well Kyle do something!" Tess was getting impatient.

He tapped his chin, reasoning, going through his Scooby clues, Maria had gone all weird after Michael left. After Liz and Alex came, after Alex went away. He wans't here...but he'd given Maria a freaky necklace.

"JINKIES!" He exclaimed stalking over to the couch.

Q looked sadly up at Rath, touching his face one last time, leaving him with a whispered promise. "I love you."

Kyle ripped the necklace off, causing the pendant to fly across the room in a burning, shining arc.

She screamed, her back arching. Her eyes flew open, green and broken, they met Michael's for one long painful instant.

She collapsed, going limp into his arms.

He gently laid her out on the couch, feeling her burning forehead. This was his worst nightmare coming true all over again. It was all so similiar, exactly the same as Q's possession. The collapse, the unwaking state.

The burning forehead.

Gods he couldn't do this again, couldn't take the unknowing, couldn't take the days where she'd sleep, where she'd burn in delerium.

And then Max was there, just as Zan had been, taking control of the situation. Taking the decisions away from his burning emotional maelstrom.

He touched her forehead, felt the raging heat, and cursed.

"Go run an ice bath. We need to break the fever." Liz ran off down the hallway, a blur of brown hair.

Tess looked at Max, "Can we give her fever reducers?"

Michael didn't hear the answer, it was all closing in on him. He could handle it in the memories when it was Q lying helpless, when it was Rath, with his icy control, who was hurting. But they weren't Q and Rath, this was Maria lying helpless and he wasn't Rath with ice in his veins and a steady head on his shoulder. He was Michael, out of control and emotional all over the place.

The lamp exploded.

Max glanced over sharply. "Get yourself under control. You can't help her if your blowing things up."

Michael did the only thing he could, he followed Rath's example from so long ago. He picked her up, this time feeling the fire that raged in her system. He had no immunity from the flames this time, not like Rath had had. Maybe all the legends were right, maybe fire had known better than to burn Rath, maybe the ice in heart had kept him immune. It didn't matter, none of it did, it was just random thoughts he was fixating on, attempting to not totally lose it.

He pulled her clothes off being irrationally gentle as if she could feel it in her sleep, no healers to stop him this time, only Liz and she knew better. Once he had her down to her undergarmets he realized he couldn't leave her, couldn't let her go even for a second, even for an icy dip to save her mind. So still not in his proper state of mind he took his own bloody clothes off until all that was left were the Metallica boxers she'd given him for his birthday last year.

He pulled her hair back, managing to get it to stay on top of her head. She hated sleeping with wet hair, how it ended up with the cute little creases he loved, so she always tried to blow dry it first.

He picked her up and put them both in the water, being very careful to keep her head dry.

Ice.

It was freezing, and that was good for her. And good for him.

This ice, this freezing cold that made his teeth shatter, was familiar, welcome. He held her, letting the ice seep into him, fill him in a tiny semblance of how it had encompassed Rath's soul. Here everything was ok, she was here wtih him in this icy abyss, he didn't hurt, he didn't feel and she slept. She slept in his arms looking peaceful, undisturbed by the icy waters that held them, as undisturbed as she'd always been by the ice that held his heart, his personality.

Michael stayed there, in his icy fantasy land, in his nonreality, for one precious minute. Until Mrs.DeLuca made it into the bathroom.

"What are you doing bathing with my daughter! OUT." She screeched at him, all the eerie calmness she'd been showing going straight out the window.

She got one whack on his head in before Liz stepped in front, his defender. "Calm down. Somebody has to hold her up, or she'll drown."

Who'd held her last time? The thought depressed him, it hadn't been him and he hated whoever it had been with an irrational anger.

Liz was the last person he'd ever expect to defend him to Maria's mother, but he was grateful all the same. Surprised at her calming tones and rational arguments.

Mrs.DeLuca glared over Liz's shoulder at him. "That is all your doing, keeping her from drowning. Is that understood?"

Sulkily he nodded at her. What kind of guy did she think he was? Did she honestly think he was going to try something in an ice cold bath with his unconcious girlfriend, in a room full of her friends and family?

God, he wasn't Kyle.

As if able to sense what he was thinking Kyle objected, "Hey!"

Liz ignored all of them, "What's that you have Mrs.DeLuca?"

She opened the pill bottle, flipping vitamins into her hand. "Feverroot, echinea, lavender. Riboflavin, seaweed, aspirin."

Holding them over the bath she let her hand go, letting all the vitamins fall in. At everyone's looks she got defensive. "What, what? I found out my daughter was dating an alien..."

Kyle grinned at her, "I go Buddha, you go vitamins. Sweet."

Then he looked at the vitamins floating in the cold water, "Is that healthy? I thought you like, took vitamins, as in swallowed them."

Tess jumped in, covering Kyle's mouth with her small hand. "So how long do we leave her in there?"

Everyone looked at Max. He sighed, "Uh...does anyone have a thermometer?"

Mrs.DeLuca opened the mirrored cabinet over the sink. After digging for a second she produced a thermometer. She handed it over to Max.

He handed it to Michael, "Michael, open her mouth and-"

"I know how to work a thermometer, Maxwell." Was his pissy reply as he got it under her tongue and turned it on.

He let it work, waiting impatiently until it beeped.

103.6

Dangerously high.

"Well, what is it?" someone asked impatiently, Michael wasn't sure who, they didn't matter anyway. None of them did.

"103.6" He heard the dangerous tones in his own voice, as if somehow he could intimidate the fever out of her system.

"Farenheit?" Kyle asked, hoping, praying it wasn't.

Liz's voice was cold. "If it was celsius she'd be dead, burned to a crisp."

"Oh." Kyle squeaked, he knew nothing about science. He'd been in remedial science for the past three years, with Maria, but now she wasn't awake to make fun of him, to point it out like she always did. He really wanted Maria back, she was the only person who was stupid with him, Liz, Max and Alex were all smart all the time.

"So how long do we leave her in there?" Tess asked, in an attempt to distract Liz's glare from Kyle.

"Until she turns blue?" Kyle offered when nobody else said anything. He was digging himself a hole and didn't even know it.

Nobody answered so Kyle leaned closer to Tess, "When do I get my Scooby Snacks for saving Maria?"

Michael shifted Maria slightly, letting his lips rest against her forehead. He just wanted everyone to leave, everyone to dissappear and go away. The water was less freezing, still cold enough to cause shivers in any less of a man, but he was Michael Guerin and he didn't shiver. He closed his eyes, shutting everyone out, making the room dissappear. He concentrated on Maria, only on her, on how her hair smelled like roses and ginger next to his nose, on how her forehead was soft under his lips, on how small she felt against him in the water, on how she burned in his arms, on how she made him burn with an intensity that scared him. He focused so hard, falling into an almost meditative state causing twenty minutes to pass him by.

But the connection wouldn't come, wouldn't rise between them, wouldn't run over Rath and Q as one soul.

"Damnit!" He cursed, opening his eyes and splashing water everywhere. Splashing water on both their faces, ruining his careful dryness of her hair.

Only Liz, Tess and Mrs.DeLuca were left in the bathroom. They just stared at him. "What's wrong?"

He glared at Liz, "I can't find her."

Liz just blinked at him, staring at him like he was crazy. Still angry and slightly out of control he splashed more water everywhere, hoping to soak Liz.

"Ok Mister, you're out. You are so banned from the bath." Mrs.DeLuca threatened him.

He just glared back, freezing cold and holding Maria just a bit tighter. He would like to see Maria's mother try and get him out of this bath.

"I will not have your negative energy vibes, your cursing, rubbing off on my daughter while she's...while she's..." She stopped short, tears threatening to overwhelm her.

Tess hugged her while Liz made an executive decision. "Ok, out of the ice bath. I think we should just let her rest for now."

Michael stood up, taking Maria's limp form with him. He stepped out of the bath, freezing to death, and snatched the towels from Liz. He started to dry Maria off, but because he was still wet and holding her up it wasn't doing much good.

Liz reached out trying to take Maria from him. His reaction was immediate, he flinched back clutching Maria to him. "I can do it."

She held up her hands in peace, "I'm just trying to help. Look why don't you dry yourself off and we'll get her changed."

"I said I could do it."

He glared at Liz, she glared right back. Copper meeting chocolate, neither budging.

"You're not changing my daughter." It was a direct statement, no room for argument, no room for budging.

"I'm not leaving the room." It was his response, also a direct statement, no room for argument, no room for budging.

Tess hating confrontations stepped in, "Ok, I know! Michael you turn around and dry yourself off do whatever. While we get Maria changed, see everybody's happy..."

For one long second she didn't think it would work, that he wouldn't agree. But tentatively he set her down on the toilet and faced the wall with one last glare for everyone. Completely unabashed he dried himself off and changed into the dry clothes Max had provided for him earlier while they very gently got Maria into some dry jammies.

"Ok, we're done." Liz told his ansty bouncing form.

He spun around, checking her over for injuries as if they'd smacked her head around while changing her. He touched her wet hair and went to the cabinet and started digging.

"Um, what are you doing?" Tess asked tentatively.

"I need a blowdryer thing."

"Um why?"

He spun around, "Because I have to dry her hair."

Mrs.DeLuca looked at him like he was slightly crazy. "I don't think that's important right now."

"Yes, ok it is. It is important. So where is the damn blowdryer thing you women use?" He was so angry, angry at anything, at everything, at everyone.

Liz grabbed him by the shoulders. "Michael, her hair doesn't matter."

"I have to dry it. Maria never sleeps with wet hair. She hates it...she hates the little creases it gets. So it has to be dry...because she can't sleep if it's wet and I got it wet...I got it wet...so I have to dry it or she'll be mad. So...so just find the thing and leave me alone."

Tess just stared at him, at his frantic rambling, at how upset he was getting over wet hair. It was depressing, it was pathetic, it was horrible to see Michael like this. To see him on the verge of losing control, to see him obsessing over the smallest thing because if he had to look at the whole picture he would scream.

"I can dry it, it's ok Michael. I'll dry it right now." She said gently.

He looked at her blankly, uncomphrehendingly. "You don't have the blower thing she uses with the big brush."

She held up her hand, and gently started to dry her hair with her powers. "I don't need it."

"No. No! She uses the thing and the brush...You're doing it all wrong." He was seriously starting to flip out, to lose it over her hair. He pushed Tess's hand away in one angry movement, going to stand in front of his sleeping girlfriend on the toilet as if he was protecting her.

"You'll get it all tangled, she hates tangles...they they hurt her and no. No, that's not acceptable...".He rubbed his face furiously, as if somewhere he had some inkling of an idea that he was being ridiculous.

"...and your doing it to the wrong side." His voice was almost a whisper, as if this was the end of the world.

"Ok, it's ok." Mrs.DeLuca told him softly, reaching out to pull him away.

While she had him distracted Tess quickly dried Maria's hair in one fell swoop, leaving it in long silky curls that Michael couldn't argue with.

"It's not ok. Ok? She takes her hair very seriously..." He sounded so defensive, standing there in his wife beater dripping water down his face like a lost little kid.

He turned and looked at her and saw the dry hair. He rubbed his face, opening his mouth to make some sort of imaginary objection but Max cut him off appearing in the doorway. He grabbed him by the arm and took him out of the bathroom, "We need to talk."

"No! No I have to put her in bed and make sure the covers are all right and that there's enough pillows. There has to be enough pillows..."

A ghost of an old smile touched Max's face for a second. "Kyle can carry her in while we talk."

"Kyle will drop her. This is precious cargo."

But Kyle had already slipped in and picked her up. He walked by their position in the hallway and Michael's eyes followed the limp form religiously.

"Look, Michael you need to calm down and stop freaking out . She'll be fine, it's just like last time-"

"It's not just like last time, Maxwell. This is Maria, not Q. And you know what happened last time? I cheated on her while she slept, and then she went crazy, and then we all died. So it better not be just like last time."

Max wasn't fazed, he'd known Michael through lifetimes, known his outbursts, known his emotions, known his fears. Just as calm as before he continued on. "Ok, so it's not like last time. I know you're scared and upset but you have to get it together. You're scaring her mother, you can't help Maria if you can't control your powers."

His voice was hopeful, "I can help her if I can get my powers under control?"

Max nodded seriously, "It's very likely."

"Ok." He headed into the bedroom with Max following.

"Look, Michael. Maria's so much stronger than this. She's stronger than everybody thinks, she'll get through this just fine."

He was fixing the covers around her, just like Rath had always done. He glanced over his shoulder, his eyes haunted by the past he couldn't escape. "Q was strong too."

"But she wasn't Maria. I mean Maria doens't take shit from anyone, she doesn't put up with the bullshit you give everyone else. This is nothing to her, look I gaurantee she'll come out of it faster than Q did." Max said earnestly and he meant it, Q had let everyone walk all over her, had accepted the hand fate dealt her. Maria wasn't like that, Maria was a fighter, she ran in fists flying throwing what destiny handed her to the ground.

"You're right."

"Yep, and Maria has something Q didn't have. She has you, Rath wasn't strong enough to deal with it, he ran away. But you're here, you're hurting and screaming but you're right here for her and she knows that."

Michael nodded, sitting down on the bed. He needed to have faith put in him, to have somebody beleive that he was helping her. To know that nobody blamed him for this, that he was doing all the blaming himself.

Max put a hand on his shoulder, "Get some rest, you've had a long day. Just stay here and take a nap, she'd want you to."

Michael looked up, the weariness from the day's events weighing heavy in his eyes. "Can I hold her?"

He needed to, needed to hug her and know that she was ok, she was alive. He needed a lifeline but the polar bear was already taken, he'd stuffed it into her arms so that she wouldn't be alone. Max looked at him and saw all of that, saw it with eyes that never missed a thing when it came to his brother.

"I think she'd like that."

Michael nodded, taking this as all the confirmation he needed, curling up around her. Max turned off the lights and slowly shut the door to a crack. They would be all right, both of them, it might take awhile but they would make it.

He leaned against the wall for a moment, taking from it the support he needed.

Liz appeared at the edge of the hallway, looking tentatively down. This was what, who, Max needed. He held out his arms to her.

She came, curling up against him in a tight hug. He buried his face in her hair, inhaling the strong vanilla scent.

"He ok?" she asked softly from somewhere around his chest.

"He will be." He murmured into her hair, kissing her forehead.

"And you?" She queried looking up.

He thought about it for a second, was he ok? Was he really ok with always being the strong one? This was Liz, he could tell her the truth, show some of his fears.

"Same."

She seemed to take this for what it was, the truth. She smiled at him, "Anything I can do to speed up the process?"

"Erase my memory?" he tried to joke, hating the images that floated in his head.

"That bad, huh?" She started to rub his back, lending him the support he craved.

He let his face fall back into her hair again, this was why he loved her. She was always there, always holding him up and never pushing. She was there for the worst of it, after the white room, and she was still here putting her own emotions second.

"You have no idea. It was horrible, the fight, seeing Michael. This, then going back and giving what was left of Fonbar to Nacedo...seeing Michael like this brings it all back from last time."

She didn't say she understood, because she didn't, she couldn't. And he was happy she didn't use that pat phrase because if she had he would have screamed. All she said, all she gave him was hope.

"It'll get better."

"What makes you so sure?" He asked, wondering at the unshakable surity he heard in her voice, clinging to it.

"Because tomorrow is Friday." She said seriously, finally.

He laughed, he couldn't help it. This was so unLiz, so exactly what he needed to hear. Something that didn't make any sense.

"And that makes you sure how?" he asked her, the laughter still ringing in his tones.

She beamed up at him. "Friday's are always good days...besides it means that life goes on no matter what. Tonight the sun will go down, just like every other day, and tomorrow it will rise again, regardless of what happens."

"Regardless of what happens." he echoed. Regardless of whatever was going on with his sister, regardless of the threat on all their lives, regardless of Michael freaking out and Maria getting possessed.

And Max Evans smiled.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.

The doorbell rang, a long insistent drone causing Kyle to glance up from his position on the couch. He grabbed the rifle, better to be safe than sorry, and walked over to the door wondering who it was.

He opened the door, ready to shoot if it turned out to be a short brown haired evil alien in a freshman's body...but it wasn't.

Alex.

Alex rubbing his head, looking utterly confused.

He let him in warily, "Where have you been?"

"Where's Maria? Is she ok?"

Kyle popped the rifle up to his shoulder steadying it on the other boy. "She's in a coma."

Alex looked crushed, like he was about to burst into tears. "Oh God, What have I done? What's been done through me?"

He looked up at Kyle, at Tess, at Mrs.DeLuca, at Max and Liz. "He took me over...he took me over and made me give Maria a necklace and then drive into the desert."

He sat down on the couch heavily. "Then I passed out or something, and came to with a horrible headache. I realized what had happened and spent the last 2 hours driving back...but I'm too late. He hurt her and I helped him do it.."

Abruptly realizing something else he looked wildly around, "Where's Michael? Did he kill Michael?"

Liz sat down next to him, "Michael's with Maria. Fonbar's dead, or about to be. Michael ruined his mind and then Nacedo took him..."

Alex nodded, "Good, I hope he rots. Can I see Maria? I want to apologize.."

Liz opened her mouth to agree but Tess cut her off, "Let me in your mind first. I want to make sure it's really Alex."

He agreed, "Please do, because I'd really like to know if I've got company..."

She checked his mind, going in and out of all the dark corners and found nobody else. Satisfied she smiled at him, "Parasite free."

Mrs.DeLuca led him down the hallway and tentatively cracked the door. They were both curled up on the bed together, in an everlasting embrace, in the type of sleep that isn't voluntary.

Alex slipped in the room quietly, not sure what to say to make it better.

"I'm so sorry Maria, I'm just so sorry that it happened. That I couldn't stop it, that I hurt you. I wish I could take it back, I wish I could have locked myself in a closet somewhere so that you wouldn't be here in this horrible state..."

There was no response, no response from Maria, no fist in his face from Michael. If Michael had punched him, if Michael had killed him in this moment, he wouldn't have cared, he'd have been grateful. But Michael didn't, he slept on, in a fitful state, lost in memories of a life that had already happened, lost in the memories even Rath had repressed, that was repeating itself again.

At least, at least Maria's sleep looked peaceful...

ooooooooooooooooooooooooo.

He couldn't sleep, couldn't close his eyes because all he saw was her burning form falling slowly to the floor.

Rath rolled onto his stomach, looking for a comfortable position but even comfort eluded him. He lay there for a minute, but he couldn't stop thinking about her, about how uncertain her future was. About how she was laying one room over in a coma, lost in delerium that burned. About how he might never get to talk to her again, or hold her, or hear her laugh, or feel her lips against his, the brush of her hair against his arm as she walked by, how they might never get into another stupid fight, the way her head tilted to the side when she asked a question, how she bounced when she got excited or how sometimes she'd just lean her head against his chest.

He sat up, this wasn't working. He needed to do something, anything to get his mind off of her, off of this, off of how terrified he was. He got out of bed, thinking that the training room would be a perfect place to spend some time.

But his feet had a different idea, they led him to the connecting door he'd been too afraid to walk through. He came to a stop in front of it, his steps stilling to nothingness. He stared at the door, wanting to run away, wanting to be anywhere but where he was. But his hands ignored his mind and pushed the door open, causing his feet to propel him into the dark room.

They took him all the way across the room to the bed and froze there.

Rath stared at her sleeping figure in the bed, he felt so dead inside. When he wasn't looking at her he couldn't stop feeling things, freaking out but now...now faced with the moment of her lying there he couldn't feel a thing. He couldn't feel the soft blow of the airconditioning on his bare chest, he couldn't feel his own breathing and inside he was totally empty.

Her head rolled from side to side, mumbling something unintelligible, but her eyes never opened. He stared at her for moments stretching into eternity...at her waxy pale skin with a feverish glow, at her long sweat soaked hair, at the healing scratches on her face, at her tiny hands.

She kicked the covers off, stirring a reaction. A mechanical movement of his arms to tuck the covers back arond her legs, but still he was so empty.

Nothing, nothing at all. It was like a dream, like this wasn't his reality, like this horrible moment, these horrible days he'd been living through weren't really happening. He'd been on autopilot for the past 3 days, fighting and training until he collapsed. He reached out to touch her face, to feel the softness of her skin, but he couldn't do it. His hand hovered there, a mere centimeter above her skin, close enough that he could feel the heat radiating off of her.

He turned to go, stepping away from the bed decisively. He got 3 steps, 2 heartbeats and 4 breaths away before it call came crashing down on him, all the feelings he'd been denying, all the terrible reality. And it call came in one sound, one breathy syllable.

"Raaathh" it was a whisper, breathy and distressed. The voice he'd always secretly loved twisted in pain, lost in delerium.

He stopped dead, swallowing convulsively, nearly gasping for air.

"She's been asking for you." a voice commented softly from the corner.

He turned, not really surprised to find Arhal casually leaning against the wall in a dark corner. He always seemed to pop up at the worst times, to slip into the room unseen. But today he didn't know if he'd been there the whole time or melted through a wall a moment ago, he was so twisted up that he hadn't even checked the room, something he always did as naturally as breathing.

He repeated himself, either unsure if Rath had heard, or uncaring. "She's been asking for you."

Rath looked back over to the bed, at her unrestful form. "Is she in pain?"

Arhal gracefully straightened up, wandering over to the bed silently. He looked down at her sleeping form and softly reached out to brush her hair back from her face. He let his hand linger on her forehead as if by resting there he could ease her troubles.

Finally his mirrored gaze glanced up capturing Rath's impatient one. "She's not in any physical pain."

"Am I supposed to find that comforting?" Rath snapped, there were worse pains than physical, much worse.

Arhal merely shrugged, "If you don't want an answer don't ask the question."

Rath glared at him, he didn't have to put up with this. "What kind of pain is it?"

Arhal stroked her forehead, gazing down at her, wondering how to explain it. "The pain of knowing."

He glanced up again, "Why haven't you been to see her yet?"

Rath ignored the question, that wasn't anybody elses business. Instead he decided to get some things off his chest.

"I never wanted this, you know."

Arhal just looked at him, idly stroking her hair. "Any of it?"

"None of it." he confirmed. "I was happy, I was steady, everything was all laid out. Do my job, marry Lonnie and that was it. I didn't have to feel anything, no emotions getting in my way clogging up my decisions."

The Oracle smiled looking down at Q's sleeping form, "How could you not want this?"

Rath carefully avoided looking at her. "Easy."

"You wanted it, maybe not conciously but part of you has been waiting a long time for it."

He paused, making sure that he had Rath's full attention. "And you have it, so how are you going to deal with it?"

"I don't have to deal with anything."

The Oracle sighed at the stubborn tones in his voice. "Fine, don't deal with it. But know this, she'll be the one who gets hurt when you don't."

"Look around you. By the Granolith, she's already hurt. She's lost in a fracking fever of delerium. Where are your precious Gods? Huh? Where are they?" He was screaming now, all of his anger pouring out. Gods, he hated this, hated this life, this pain.

"They're supposed to love her, to take care of her...but they used her and threw her away. So don't talk to me about dealing with anything, talk to them."

Arhal looked at him, a thoughtful, amused expression on his face. "Be careful what you say, your very close to blasphemy right now."

Insane laughter bubbled out of him. "Good. I'd like to see them strike me down."

He turned around in a circle tilting his face to the sky, his precious control abandoning him. "Where are you? C'mon strike me down. Where's your fire and brimstone? Where is it? You're cowards! You're wrong and you know it. So fix it. FIX HER...Or else."

"Threats, is that all you have? You're dealing with Gods here, not an oppossing army..." Arhal sounded infintely amused, perfectly modulated.

Gods Rath hated it, hated how he always seemed so amused by everything. How he saw the world as a huge joke, the only person getting the punch line.

He stalked over to the bed, ready to punch out the Oracle but he stopped short. He couldn't get the other man without having to look at her...without having to look at his lost baby...

He rubbed his eyes, hating how they were getting dark, hating how tight they suddenly felt. He wanted to go back to feeling nothing, to the emptiness but he couldn't.

"Get away from her." It was a demand, a command.

"Pardon me?" The Oracle wasn't amused any more, if anything he seemed slightly confused. Good, it was about time he didn't have all the answers.

"I said get away from her." He was furious, he wanted him away, she was his. She didn't need this other stroking her hair, he was just messing it up.

"Why?" He wasn't moving like he was told to and that wasn't acceptable.

"Move." Rath started to pull on him, to move him off the bed. She wasn't comfortable and it was all Arhal's fault, she had to be comfortable.

The Oracle gave, abandoning the bed watching him with an intense interest. Rath sat down on the edge, carefully repositioning her into a more natural position. Her hands were so small, he'd always loved holding her hand. He'd never admit it, but he was so used to rough things, his hard calloused hands unused to the small, warm, soft little hand she would slip into his bigger one, trusting him to hold it and not break it.

But now, now her beautiful hands were ruined and he wanted to break something. They'd cut the nails off, because she'd been scratching herself, and the softness of her skin was gone, leaving little lacerations and dryness. He had to fix it, she wouldn't want her hands to look like that, she didn't deserve hands that looked like that. She had to have her beautiful hands, her hands that had never known hard work, her soft hands that had showed his that he didn't have to clutch everything like a weapon, her soft little fingers that would wrap around his pinky and let him lead her around, the gentle pads of her fingers that would trace little messages into his palm...

He looked wildly around, he needed something, needed that lotion stuff she always used. She put one big dollop in between her hands and rubbed it all together until it dissappeared, he'd watched her do it a thousand times. Even had her do it to his hands unexpectedly one day, despite his loud protests that he didn't want women hands, despite the fact he washed them right after so that he didn't have the smell of flowers on him. Gods, now he wished he hadn't washed it off, hadn't caused the little hurt expression it had given her because she'd just been trying to help, trying to fix the callouses. If she did it again he wouldn't wash it off, he wouldn't yell in protest, he'd just enjoy it; enjoy the feel of her small hands massaging his. He was so sorry now, he just wanted to fix everything.

"What are you looking for?" The Oracle sounded mildly concerned but Rath didn't care, he was a pretty boy so he probably had lotion stuff.

"Her hands...they're all wrong. I need the stuff to fix them. Lotion or cream or whatever you call the soft slippery stuff. She...she always puts it on at night."

The Oracle was smart enough not to argue with him, just to start opening cabinets like the faithful sidekick that he was. Rath waited impatiently, knowing how hysterical he was getting wasn't right, but he couldn't help it. He was upset and fixing her hands would fix it.

Arhal came over with a bottle of something slippery and creamy. Rath squirted some into his hand, one big dollop just like Q always did. But then he smelled it.

"NO. No This is all wrong. It's not the right smell. Not Acceptable." He threw it across the room in a fit of uncontrollable rage, watching as it hit the opposite wall and splattered some lotion out onto it before crashing to the ground.

The Oracle looked at him for a moment, at how he was breathing hard like he'd been fighting all day. Slowly he walked over and picked up the discarded lotion. He came back and stood in front of him.

"Ok, wrong smell. I can fix it. What does Q's lotion smell like?" He sounded nice, gentle, as if he thought Rath was slightly crazy but would humor him because he knew this wasn't really about lotion.

Rath was still breathing so hard, but he tried. "Flowers."

The Oracle just stared at him. "What kind?"

"Do I look like a fracking botanist!"

He snapped, irrationally angry. He needed control, any sort of it because his had fled. Ozma's cool icy touch had abandoned him so now all he had was what was his naturally, broken by training, because at his core he had no control. He started by breathing deeply, because if he could control his body maybe he could control his mind.

"All right. How about I just try different scents and you smell them?" Arhal asked warily, at Rath's nod he waved his hand over the lotion.

Rath took a sniff. "No."

He waved his hand again, once again Rath rejected it. "Wrong."

"What's wrong about it?" The Oracle asked, looking for a direction to make his changes in.

"Everything." Another angry snap, why didn't he understand?

"Not much of a help."

Rath rubbed his face, wanting to cry remembering how she always smelled. "It's too cold. Her lotion...its warm, and spicy and sweet. It's the best smell ever."

Oddly enough Arhal laughed, "The best smell ever, you should tell her that sometime."

He glared at the Chosen. "Hi, you smell good...Not happening."

He held out the lotion, Rath smelled it. It smelled better, more like hers but not quite. "You're closer."

"Ok...Ok what could I be missing. Rath what's your favorite flavor?"

"Tobasc." He answered warily, not seeing how what he liked to eat mattered with her lotion.

He waved his hand over the lotion again. Then held it out for inspection.

Rath sniffed it, then inhaled it.

Perfect.

It was how she always smelled, the sweetness of flowers blending with the sharp tang of a spice, instantly recognizable as her, a smell that lingered for minutes after she'd left the room. He could always tell if Q had been somewhere recently by the lingering sweetness in the air.

He grabbed the lotion, being careful to use just the right amount, making sure his dollop was exactly the right size.

He carefully picked up her hands and softly rubbed the lotion in, making sure he got all of her fingers just right and that all of it dissappeared like it was supposed to. He was gentle with her, just like she'd been with him, and her hands already felt better, they felt softer and smelled right. But now her arms looked all dry, did she put lotion on her arms too? What about her face?

Why didn't he know these things? Why didn't he know if she used lotion on her arms? And if she did how much did he use? Was he horrible for not knowing?

He looked up wildly, "You're the Oracle...do I put it on her arms too?"

Arhal bit his lip and shook his head, looking at him sadly. "No, no her hands is just fine."

Did he smell good to her? It was something he'd never considered before...he loved how she smelled but did she like how he smelled? Was smell important to her? He'd never asked...

Her nose looked kind of dry, maybe he should put some lotion on her nose. Because then she could smell it and she'd wake up because it would smell all nice, like home...

He got a very small amount on the tip of his finger and touched her nose, making sure to rub it in where she could smell it. She always loved how flowers smelled, she told him once when they'd been walking, he remembered everything she said even if he never said anything about it.

"Ok, Ok...Rath I think that's enough of the lotion." Arhal reached out, taking away his bottle.

He looked up, he wanted the lotion back. It smelled like her and what if he wanted to have it or what if her hands got dry and he didn't have any lotion to fix it?

"Give it back. It's mine." He sounded like a child but he didn't care.

"You don't even know what's in it."

"So tell me, look I need it. What if her hands get all dry again?" Here he was, Commander of all the Armies on Antar, and he was pleading with someone over a bottle of lotion. And he hated himself for it, hated how out of control he was. He'd never have done this before, he'd never pleaded for anything. But what was the use in thinking about before? All he had was now..and all that mattered was her.

"It's the essence of a narka plant, thats the sweet flowery part. And a touch of tobasc, for the spice."

Rath just stared at him, was he serious? Was her lotion two of his favorite things, their plant and his spice?

Suddenly he was all choked up, "Is that on purpose? Did she do that..."

"For you? Because you liked those things?...My guess would be yes, that she picked smells you liked so that you would notice her more..."

He felt like he'd been punched over and over. Gods, he didn't deserve her. He didn't deserve anyone who would notice little things about him like what smells and tastes he liked and make them into her perfume. He didn't deserve that kind of devotion, that kind of love.

"What...what smells does she like?" He asked as he took the lotion back, carefully putting it in his pants pocket. He knew she loved the ochai flowers and that she had a horrible sweet tooth, she was always craving the cool treats.

The Oracle shook his head, "You don't have to do that...You already do little things for her."

"I do?" He never felt like he was doing anything for her, or that when he tried it always ended up all wrong. Why was he suddenly so insecure? Why did it suddenly matter if he did stuff for her, it never seemed to matter before...but then before she'd always been there.

"Yeah. Like I know for a fact you ordered the kitchens to always have those frozen treats she loves. And that when she thought saw a bug in her room you crawled around the whole thing until you caught it. Oh, and you gave her flowers once..."

"I left the roots on." He muttered sulkily. The bug thing, he hadn't really had a choice, she'd jumped on her bed and screamed until he caught it. The kitchens he couldn't really say was just for her because he really liked those treats too...and Zan had suggested it.

"You stopped slitting your wrists...You have no idea how much that means to her."

Yes, he'd done that. Or he at least did it alot less now because she'd told him it had to stop, that if he was gonna give her the dog tags he had to give up his past.

Arhal smiled at him, "You make sure people respect her, that they treat her right with all that she deserves. Every single time it still awes her, it still makes her happy."

"Raaattthh" she mumbled again, flinging her arm out.

He looked at her for a long second, but she'd fallen back into her restless sleep. Rubbing his face in his hands he stood up and paced the length of the room.

Finally, in a soft voice he admitted the real problem, his deepest fear; the real reason behind his freak out about lotion. "I can't feel her."

Arhal nodded, encouraging him to go on.

"We're in the same room, I'm looking at her, but I can't feel her. I can't feel her anywhere...and it scares me."

"Could you feel her before?" The Oracle's voice was resigned, contemplative, as if this was something he'd feared.

Rath nodded miserably. He had felt her, he'd known where she was at least vaguely. He'd felt her in him, and now she was gone and he was all alone and terrrified.

"You know what that means, don't you?" Arhal's voice was tired.

Rath looked at himself in the mirror, at his haggard appearance, at his eyes that were rapidly darkening to black. He was a mess.

"Yes."

It was a whisper, a confirmation from his soul. This was his fear, that this would be taken away, that something he'd never wanted but had come to love would suddenly not be his anymore.

"So what will you do about it?" Now the Oracle's tones had a touch of steel in them.

"I can't. I can't...its too much of a risk." His voice was tortured, twisted with his fears.

"Is it? The Gods don't seem to think so, your souls are already binding..."

He didn't bother to acknowledge the last statement. He had no faith in the Gods that left her in a coma for days.

"Will I feel her again?" Gods, he hated the desperation in his tones. But he needed her, she was his fix.

Arhal was quiet a long time. "Yes."

Relief hit him in one heady rush. He would feel her again, she'd be ok, they'd be ok. He rubbed his face, finally able to look at the figure in the bed without a rush of guilt.

"But you shouldn't have been able to feel her before. Not unless..." he trailed off, leaving the last part a hanging question.

"What?"

"When did it start for you? When did you notice her I mean?" His questions were pointed, driven.

Rath was silent for a moment, he'd felt the pull before he ever acted on it, before he ever knew her. He'd fought it, hated the way his eyes followed her of their own accord.

"The adulation festival." He said finally admitting it even to himself. When he kidnapped her he'd already been fascinated.

Arhal's gaze was sharp. "That was a quarter moon before you met her. It started for you first..."

Rath shrugged, maybe it had. Maybe he was really just an obsessed stalker and this was his penance, watching her in pain.

"I want to, you know. I really do." He couldn't take his eyes off of her.

"So do it. The Granix has already begun,...though now I don't know. It's probably been halted."

He shrugged again, something in him changing, something cementing, it didn't matter. She would be his wife either way, he was sure of that. If he had to eliminate the entire First Order and half of the planet to do it, she would be his wife.

He looked at the bed, her eyes were open. Not open with coherence or conciousness, open with the type of raging delerium that inspires nightmares, holding the emptiness.

She was shattered, completely shattered, pieces of a soul. Her eyes met his, the shattered pieces cutting him, mirroring something that was yet to come.

She screamed, one long ear piercing wail.

And he knew, he saw. He knew in that moment what his future would be, that he would be that, the mirror of her.

He sank to his knees as her wail cut itself off, swallowing convulsively. Gods, he couldn't breathe.

And then Arhal was there, kneeling down next to him. His voice was urgent, cutting through the increasing pressure.

"I can give you a chance. I can give you a shot to avoid it...you just have to forget."

"Forget what?" he gasped out, around the horrible knowing.

The mirrored eyes in front of him were sad full of possibilities. "Tonight, forget that the Granix has already begun. Give yourself the choice whether to Granix or not..."

He squeezed his eyes shut. Could he do that? Could he give it up?

But the choice was taken from him as he felt the cool touch of the Oracle's hands on his forehead.

And somewhere, somewhen, part of him started the screaming that would never stop. Started the wail, that would haunt him after she died...

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.

Isabel looked around her, drinking in her last glance of Roswell, New Mexico. This was it, there was no white in shining armor, nobody coming to stop her.

She couldn't fight what raged inside herself, couldn't fight the past that wanted her life. She'd made too many mistakes, too many wrong calls along the line to ever repent. But she'd try, she'd leave everything she'd ever loved, leave her family, her friends because for them this was better. She had powers, she had brains, she could dissappear, fall into the crowd.

And she finally accepted it, for her there would be no happy ending.

She looked around one last time and Isabel Evans stepped onto the bus.

Avoiding everyone's eyes she made her way down the isle, picking a seat by the window. She settled in, feeling oddly sad, this was it and maybe just maybe this could be good.

"Running away, Isabel?" A voice asked from behind her.

She turned around, staring at him. This was the last person she'd ever expected to find her, to care.

"Just taking a vacation." She said lightly, she still had an image to project no matter how shattered and guilt wracked she was inside.

He nodded, nothing of what was going on inside his mind showing on his face.

"Why don't you wait on that?"

She shook her head, if she waited then she might hurt Michael or Maria again. "No, I think now is a great time."

He took this into consideration. Then he stood up, offering his hand. "Why don't we get some coffee, talk. If you still want to take a vacation after that...be my guest."

She could do that, she trusted him. Slowly she stood up, taking his offered hand.

Maybe, maybe this would all be ok.


	26. Chapter 21

AN: Hey yall. I loved the reviews as always, so thank yall o much for reviewing! definitely helped brighten up a rough week. Not much else to say.

higherbeingfriendsfan: Kyle is a very good scooby member, funny story is that I actually attempted to draw everyone all Scoobied out...it didn't work quite so well. Who Isabel is talking to isn't troubling its who she talks to later on... Everyone does need to recuperate but when do they ever get the chance?

spaceboi's pixie: Here we go weeehh, hope you like this part.

red-rumm: I like to keep the chappie's packed with stuff instead of fillers because If i'm gonna write I wanna write! Happy you appreciate.

Candylovin Fehrian: I'm happy you liked the Sugar inspired scene, it was supposed to be a bit scary bc ther were def moments on the show that Michael's intensity got a bit scary aka when he thought he was King.. I love Kyle and him being all Scoobyish, as for the former lover Q said it. The thing about Q is, she's not exactly riding the sane train and is often confused on what timeframe she's in so don't get those hopes super up. Who's Isabel talking to, thats the question of the hour...but it's not anybody expected.

Magali: Once agian I hope your holidays rock!

Collision Part 21 "I Eternally Apologize"

_My empty promises  
Led to our demise  
And I could never tell you how I really feel  
And for that I eternally apologize _

I hope you never forget the tapping at your window  
With the harsh cold and the jealousy  
Running through my bones  
We were both selfish, but I think I was more  
3685 The Spill Canvas

He handed her coffee to her, sititng down across from her in the dingy diner on the edge of town. Isabel smiled at him.

"So how'd you find me?"

He shrugged, taking off his cowboy hat. "Max called to tell me you ran off. Then the bus station called to say you were there."

"You labeled me as missing?" She asked in disbelief.

The Sheriff laughed, taking a sip of his coffee. "No, no. Roswell's a small town, so the Stationmaster calls me whenever an unescorted minor buys a bus ticket out of town."

"Oh." Isabel added more sugar to her coffee, wondering why she was here. Why she got off the bus with the Sheriff instead of fleeing to Texas.

"So why don't you tell me what's going on?" His southern drawl was comforting, not inspiring the fear it once had. No, now she was scared by another voice that haunted her dreams.

"Max didn't tell you?" She asked surprised, Max trusted the Sheriff.

"Nope."

She paused, what could she say?

"I hurt Max." She finally admitted, staring at the sugar.

He nodded, "So you're just leaving? I've always thought you two were closer than that..."

She looked up, "I can't control it. I can't control myself, what rages inside of me. If I stay I'll just hurt everyone and I couldn't bear that."

He took a long drink out of his coffee. "Has it occured to you that leaving would hurt everybody too? You can't just run away from everything, Isabel. Believe me, you can never run away because everything will follow you..."

"What do you know about running away? You've lived in Roswell your entire life..."

He grinned at her, a slow grin. Then he rested his elbows on the table, leaning forward on them. "I spent a long time trying to escape my father's reputation, running from it. And I know that you can't get away from it...the past is always there. And I know that...that when Michelle left, it didn't do any good. It didn't solve any of our problems, just hurt a lot of people, hurt what she cared about best, Kyle. If you leave it'll do the same thing... it won't help you and it won't help any of your friends."

She wasn't sure what to say to that, what he said made sense, too much sense. It made her want to stay here, to try and work it out. As if he could sense what she was thinking, her indecision he smiled again.

"Now I don't know much about you kids past lives, but I gather you all made alot of mistakes."

She nodded miserably, "I got us all killed.-"

He cut her off, "I think you'd have to debate that with everyone else, it seems everyone of you shares that sentiment, oddly enough including Kyle."

She smiled at that little joke. "I think we can get away with not blaming this one on Kyle. But see they all think it's their fault but I know it was mine."

He took a sip of his coffee, looking at her with disbelieving blue eyes. "How's that? From what Tess has told me y'all just have pieces of memories."

"And that's enough." Isabel sighed, a sound full of self hate.

"I let them -"

"Wrong, try it again but this time tell me who really let them. It wasn't you, it was your past." He cut in, that southern drawl edged with iron.

This time she smiled a real smile at him. "Vilandra let them, helped them, take Q. She didn't know they were going to hurt her, but they did, they killed her and in turn that killed Rath. Oh he was still alive, but he wasn't sane."

She laughed, self-depreciation, coloring the bell like sound. It may not have been her but it still hurt, she still felt all of the pain, the guilt.

"So you see, I actually did get several people killed."

He leaned back and was quiet for a moment. "Do you think it was all Yoko Ono's fault the Beatles broke up?"

What...?

She was confused, what was the Sheriff talking about, what did the Beatles have to do with her getting everyone killed.

"Well?"

She glanced at him askance before answering. "Of course not, I mean she might have been a reason but they were the ones that had the final call."

He nodded, pursing his lips together. "If it wasn't entirely Yoko Ono's fault then it wasn't entirely your fault either."

She opened her mouth to protest but he held up his hand.

"See kiddo, you can't excuse others and not yourself. You might have given them the oppurtunity to take Maria, but it was her call, she knew it was coming. You might have let them take her, but your not the one who shoved a knife in her. It's an entirely different ballgame."

"So suddenly it was Q's fault she died? No, she was sweet, innocent, it was all my fault."

He shook his head again, "If you see a cliff then willingly drive off of it is it your fault you died?"

"Well of course..."

"Same thing. She knew it was coming, she could have changed it if she wanted...but she didn't. She took it, she embraced it for this life, for Maria and Michael. And maybe you helped her do that, helped her give all of you this chance, this life, so don't throw that away."

Isabel paused, she'd never really looked at it that way, taken everyone elses actions into account. Yes, she'd made a mistake but that didn't mean she was the only one too, and that didn't mean she had to pay for it. She could live this life, show Vilandra that there are other things worth living for..

"I thought you said you didn't know much about our past lives." She said finally, something in her changing. She wasn't going to give up or give in, she would face her demons head on.

He shrugged, putting on his cowboy hat. "I don't, just what a little bird tells me."

She smiled, knowing he meant Amy DeLuca by the smile on his face. "So what do I do now?"

He stood, "Go see everyone, we're stronger together than we are apart."

She nodded, standing and understanding. They were stronger together, last time they'd stood apart and died together but this time it didn't have to be that way...

They walked to the cruiser but there was something niggling at her, some part of her wanting to wake up. Maybe Q had known, maybe it hadn't all been her fault, maybe Q had already forgiven her. So maybe it was time to forgive herself.

She got in, leaning her head against the window thinking about forgiveness and second chances. The memories took her.

...oooooooo

Vilandra walked into the ship's stateroom looking for some peace and quiet before the rest of the political contingent arrived. But she wasn't alone in her quest for a retreat, covering her dissapointment she walked over to the couch.

She settled herself in, glancing at lilac haired girl who was engrossed in her writings.

"Hey, girl."

The Chosen's head popped up, her surprised mirrored eyes huge. "Hi Princess."

"What are you writing?"

"My dreams, see Arhal said that you should always remember your dreams. Because they have deeper meanings, so I try and write them down then analyze them using different methods until I figure out what they mean." She babbled off at her quickly, it always amazed Vilandra how much this small girl could talk without really saying anything.

"Ah."

"So, what are you doing? You're always doing something..." Q asked, pushing her hair behind her ears.

She took out the small bottle of polish she'd been carrying. She showed it to the other girl, letting the light catch the millions of rainbows that hid in it's mirrored tones. "Painting my nails. You know this color would look really pretty with your eyes..."

Q smiled tentatively, biting her lip. "You think?"

Vilandra grabbed the other girls hands, opening the bottle of polish. "Most definitely. See I love this shade because it's so eye catching, someone gave it to me as a gift..."

She swiped the shining color down one of Q's long nails, then another. Q smiled at her, "Was it Kiiivvvvaaarrr?"

She glanced around, "Shhhhh. What do you know about that?"

Q glanced around too, "I know he looks at you like your his world and that he makes you happy."

Vilandra took her other hand and started swiping the color down the new nails. "Maybe, maybe he does."

Q was looking down, carefully avoiding Vilandra's eyes. Her golden voice was tentative, "But what about your fiance? Aren't you afraid you might hurt his feelings?"

She laughed, "Rath, feelings? Those two don't belong in the same sentence."

She painted another finger, coyly looking up through her eyelashes. "Besides Rath can take care of himself in that department."

Q didn't say anything or look up, she sat perfectly still staring at her hands. Too still, she was trying so hard not to give anything away that in reality she was giving everything away. Vilandra smiled softly to herself, she was so naive.

"Ever been in love, Qaelia?" Of course she already knew the answer, but she was curious to see what the girl would say.

"It's forbidden." Was the soft reply she got.

She painted the pinky nail, wanting to pry. "They can't really forbid your heart you know, they can forbid your actions but not your feelings. I mean technically I'm supposed to be madly in love with Rath."

She shrugged one delicate shoulder, "It's forbidden."

Vilandra smiled softly, she wasn't going to get Q to cave.

"What are you girls talking about in here?" A voice called. Vilandra's eyes snapped up and a slow catlike smile spread across her face. Kivar.

"Dreams." She told him as he came over to the couch.

"What do you dream about at night, I wonder." He said, mirroring a phrase they'd heard from a stranger on the night they met.

Q looked up and scooted away from Vilandra. All of her tentative ease had left, leaving her obviously uneasy.

"Hello, Qaelia. I trust your doing well." Kivar said with usual amount of effortless charm.

She shifted in her seat, "Did you just arrive?"

He nodded, "I came with King Larek and part of his family."

"Oh." She started to stand.

"Can I ask you something, Qaelia?" Kivar asked, causing the girl to immediately sit back down.

She nodded, looking wary. He grinned easily, casually touching Vilandra's back.

"Why do I unnerve you?" He sounded so innocent, so truly hurt by this girl's actions.

Her big mirrored eyes blinked quickly, opening and shutting several times. Vilandra stared back and forth between them, feeling the tension in the room. Jealousy surged in her again, the same green eyed monster that had raged to life when watching how Kivar's eyes followed the other girl. Why was he so fascinated by her?

"You don't...you don't have honorable intentions towards me." She squeaked out, holding Kivar's eyes, daring him to deny it.

Vilandra wasn't sure what she meant by that, and didn't like any of the possibilities her mind came up with. She wanted to slap Kivar and throttle this girl in front of her.

Oddly enough it caused him to smile, shaking his head. "My intentions are honorable enough-"

She cut him off her beautiful voice sharp, "Personal gain is never honorable."

He turned away for a second, as if she'd slapped him. He bit his cheek for a second then all of the unease was gone In, slipped behind the mask he wore. In a way he was just like Rath, hiding everything behind a mask to only show the world what he wanted to, the only difference was his mask was more likeable, more practiced.

"So the kitten has claws" he murmured, using an Earth expression that neither Vilandra nor Q really understood.

Lonnie looked at him, lost, noticing the speculative look on his face. She hated this, hated the jealousy that ran in her. "What do you mean by that?"

He ignored her, "I see the hawk that hides in the sparrow you think you are."

"No, you only see your dreams, a means to an end."

She stood, taking several steps away before glancing over her shoulder. "But the end won't be what you dreamed."

Vilandra didn't get what she was talking about and Kivar merely looked as if he didn't care. But Q's dramatic exit was ruined by the arrival of more members of their party.

She stopped dead, looking at the new party.

Vilandra stood, welcoming the new arrivals. "King Larek, how wonderful to see you again. I see Prince Shenai and his Blessed wife, Shar."

Larek came in, kissing her on the cheek and shaking Kivar's hand. His brother and his wife followed, exchanging greetings.

"And who's this?" Larek asked, turning to stare at Q.

Vilandra stepped forward, idly noting the interest in his eyes. "This is Qaelia, one of Antar's Chosen."

"Ah...The Siren of Antar. It's lovely to meet you."

"Blessed be." Was her soft response as she moved back into the room, realizing she couldn't leave anymore.

"The Gods greet you, Sister." The pregnant Shar said stepping forward and extending her hands.

Vilandra knew the exact moment it clicked, saw the exact moment Q realized, understood.

Q stared at the other woman, at her mirrored eyes and swollen stomach, at the wedding ring on her middle finger, then back to the mirrored eyes that matched her own.

Confusion, denial and fear crossed across her face. "You're...you're like me, you were sent...but your're pregnant. You're married, how?"

Shar smiled sweetly at her, grasping the shocked girl's hands. "Everywhere isn't like Antar, on my planet there are no rules keeping Blessed ones from marrying."

For one long horrible second Vilandra thought Q was going to pass out, all the color drained out of her face and she stood stock still. But then Larek was there, propelling her towards a set of chairs near the back of the room.

Kivar stepped a bit closer to her, close enough to whisper in her ear. "That's a conversation I would dearly love to hear."

She agreed so they slipped closer to Larek and Q, nonchalantly looking out the window, letting the other dignitaries and her mother deal with the others.

"Are you ok?" Larek, always the soliticious gentleman, asked her gently.

"Fine." Her voice was shaky, lacking conviction.

"I don't mean to pry but you don't exactly seem like you qualify for term fine..." He joked, his tentative goofy charm showing through.

She smiled at him, slightly more at ease but no less out of sorts. "I'm just shocked. I never knew that other places the rules were different. I'm starting to find out the world is not what I thought it was, what I was told it was."

He nodded, leaning back with a smile. "Ah, this is one of those days the blinders come off and you learn that you've lived a very sheltered life."

"Exactly." She agreed, before going back to the original argument.

"I just...why is it different? Why is it she can get married and I can't. I want my own life not just servitude."

Larek reached out, brushing a loose strand of hair over her shoulder. His attraction to the girl was glaringly obvious to everyone in the room, except Q. "Antar is the oldest of the 5 worlds in our system and in a way its core. The Gods have always loved Antar best, I'm not saying that just because, but they made it first, they fell in love and could never really leave it. And in a way it's prevented change for a long time, Antar keeps to the old ways stronger than any other planet. Our people's religion is based around your First Order, as such they seem to feel that they should be the most restrictive, keeping you all for just Antar. Now things are changing, Zan is King, not his father, and Zan is taking the planet in a new direction but he can only do so much."

She looked away unhappy, her eyes following the other Chosen around the room. "Are the Granixed?"

Larek smiled at her, "Yes. We feel that just because you were Blessed by the Gods and sent to us doesn't mean your soul should only be ours, they possess enough love for both the planet and a family..."

Kivar's voice was soft in Vilandra's ear, disrupting the scene she was watching play out. "He likes her, we can use that."

She turned to Kivar, anger rising in her. Not everyone was pawns, Larek was a king in his own right and they couldn't play him. It was too dangerous, besides he was her friend. They'd grown up together, hurt together when their fathers were assinated. She'd gone to his coronation the same week as her brother's. Oh why did he have to like Q? Why did everyone have to like her? Why couldn't he see that she was upset because her heart already beat for another?

"Leave Larek out of it."

"Why? Because he's your friend? This isn't about friends, Lonnie, this is about power and making Antar a better place." Kivar sounded so sweet, so sure, so honest in his thoughts, but she knew him well enough to hear the ruthlessness that lurked under the surface.

She stared back, she wouldn't budge on this. Larek wasn't of Antar, so he didn't have anything to do with making it a better place or more equal. "Why? Because we'll need him as an ally later on and if you use him he'll hate you..."

Kivar smiled at her as if she was gold. "Fine. As you wish."

Vilandra smiled, but part of her knew he was still plotting. Always plotting. She turned her attention away from those thoughts, back to the pair off to her right.

"I hate the First Order." It was a compulsive confession, something the girl couldn't keep bottled up inside no longer.

"I hate them. I hate how they isolate me, how they use me. How they treat me and how I can't seem to ever fight back. But most of all I hate how they own me. And I hate how I hate myself for it." Her voice was thick with pain, twisted with a hate she wished she didn't feel but festered all the same inside her.

His response was immediate, leaning closer his tones more intimate. "Don't hate yourself. Part of us always hates our keepers, I mean I severly detest my council...I hate the little things they do, how they think that because they were my father's men I should follow them blindly out of loyalty. So don't hate yourself, because then I'd have to hate myself..."

He smiled at her not realizing the room had fallen silent at the new arrivals, "Besides...you're much too beautiful to hate yourself."

As if on cue Rath and Zan had walked in and heard Larek's final comment. Vilandra glanced at Rath's face but nothing showed there, if he was bothered by it nobody would ever know.

They sauntered over, only a casual glance at Q's still too pale face even indicated that even Rath knew she existed.

"King Zan, General. It's so lovely to see you both again." Shar said, sweeping over to kiss them both on the cheek.

Zan smiled at her, "Always a pleasure, King Larek is lucky to have you around."

She laughed, turning to Rath. "And you! You need to come visit us more often, who else can I trust to teach my son how to hold a weapon?"

He didn't smile or laugh, or show any emotion at all. His eyes slid over to Q for a second, but then the moment was gone, so fast that Vilandra wondered if he'd even looked at her all or if it was all her imagination.

"Do you know each other?" Q asked, looking between the two, the golden tones of her voice not quite covering the distress she still felt.

Shar glanced back and forth between them, something dawning in her mirrored gaze. She was silent, a slightly sad look on her face.

"Yes." Rath's tone was short.

"Oh." It was the soft exhale of her breath as she let a soft curtain of hair fall over her face, hiding her features.

"You look ill." It was a dry observation, but Vilandra could hear the tiny note of emotional disquiet in his voice.

"Ah, just a bit of motion sickness, these ships you know?" Larek cut in with a laugh, reaching out to rub her back.

She stood, slipping gracefully away from his hand. "I think I'll go lay down for a bit."

Larek stood too, "I'll escort you back to your quarters,"

Then realizing how forward he was being he gave a bit of a laugh, "If that's ok with you...I mean."

"I need to go settle affairs with the Captain so I'll escort her. Your presence won't be neccesary." Rath cut in, ushering Q past him silently.

"Well, uh at least let me escort you to dinner, Miss Qaelia." Larek called, the King looking almost frantic about it. His attraction was obvious, the goofy anxious way he awaited her reply.

She nodded at him, though it was obvious her attention was already somewhere else as she turned and floated away. She paused at the doorway, waiting for Rath, her face clouded with a thousand unreadable things.

"Our rules for our Chosen are different on Antar, Larek, you would do well to remember that." Rath said quietly, every curteous word edged with steel undertones, with an offensive warning that there was no way the other man could miss.

He turned on his heel and left with one last sharp glance at the King, leaving everyone in the room slightly on edge. Rath always had that effect of lingering danger, of a threat that stayed in the air even after he'd left.

The silence grew, everyone in the room sizing each other and the political climate up, checking to see if Rath's rudeness had done any lasting damage. It grew until Vilandra couldn't take it anymore.

"He's in a chipper mood. Well, I think I'll follow Q's example and take a small rest before dinner." Vilandra announced wanting, needing, to escape the smoothering atmosphere of political webs.

She met Kivar's eyes, answering his unspoken request that she try and listen in. She slipped away thankful to escape, to get away from Kivar. She loved him but he was so different now, so driven in his dreams, not the same sweet man he was in the beginning. She wandered down the back hallways wondering when it had all changed, when it had stopped being about them and started being all about him.

She slipped into her room silently, thankful that Q's was right next door. She glanced around, she didn't hear them next door but farther back.

Ah, the balcony. The shared balcony, not very smart of them, not with the double sided opaque glass that she could see out of but they couldn't see into. She settled into a seat next to the sliding door, watching Rath pace back and forth along the short space and Q stand there staring at him.

"You knew." Q's voice was soft, hurt.

"Knew what, Q?" He asked over his shoulder, his tones sharp and challenging.

"About Shar, that other places the Chosen get to get married, get to have families. Get to have babies...get to Granix. You knew and you didn't tell me!" The lilt in her tones rose and twisted in distress, in an disconcerted disquiet until her voice cracked.

He didn't say anything, his silence speaking louder than any words or denials would have.

She stalked over, her small angry steps smacking against the deck, her fists hit his chest in time with her angry words. "You didn't tell me. You lied, you kept it to yourself. Why? Why couldn't you have told me? Why did you let me think I couldn't? Why? Why, Rath?"

He grabbed both of her wrists, stilling her beating fists but doing nothing to stop the small sobs that were wracking her body. He made no effort to end her emotional distress, no effort to pull her closer and comfort her. Rath wasn't about comfort, he was about honesty, about the brutal truth and as such he gave it that way.

"Why? Because it doesn't change anything." His voice was frigid, perfectly modulated even now. All of his walls still in place, such a glaring contrast to the emotional creature she was. A glacial unresponsive statue to her impassioned lively form.

She pulled her wrists free, breaking away from him, from his coldness. "It changes everything."

Her rebuttal was almost a scream, the denial loud and wracked with the passions that had raged caged in her for far too long.

His laugh was bitter, a short bark that held no happiness. "No, it doesn't. The rules on Antar are still the same, I'm still engaged and your still forbidden. So no, Q, it really doesn't change a damn thing."

Her laugh was equally as jaded, equally as miserable. It sounded so wrong coming out of her mouth, so disturbing to hear those golden tones twisted in mordancy. She turned away from him, resting her elbows on the rail looking out to the view.

"No, Rath. It changes everything for me. See I thought, I'd convinced myself, that I couldn't Granix or even get married because it was impossible. Like physically impossible for me, that somehow because I was sent I wasn't compatible."

Another bitter golden laugh followed by Rath's soft comment. "Then you were a fool."

She didn't look at him, didn't get insulted or scream at him for the comment. She knew him, knew these comments he made were somehow supposed to protect him, stop the words she needed to say so he didn't have to deal with it.

A whisper of a self-depreciating smile graced her features, "A fool, an innocent or an ignorant? Who knows, but I thought it all the same. And now? Now suddenly thats not true, I can get married, I can Granix.-"

"No. You still can't." He cut in sharply, shooting down ideas that were too dangerous to even entertain in a flight of fancy.

She turned to him, angry, the wind catching her hair and whipping it around her. "But physically I can. See I've been lied to all these years, told only what I 'needed' to know. By everyone, by the First Order, by the other Chosen, by you... So don't tell me I can't get have my dreams. Now it makes everything so much worse, knowing makes it all so much worse because now it's a what might have been. Now I have to look at you and know that we could have been married if I'd been sent somewhere else, now I have to deal with all the dissappointment of wanting something I'll never have because before I'd accepted it. Now I know that this will just hurt so much because I'll always want more."

"What we want is irrelevant."

"By the Gods, you sound so much like them. So much like the First Order, 'you don't get dreams, you don't get aspirations, you get what we give you.' I'm sick of it. I'm sick of taking whatever I'm given and accepting it. I'm sick of how your perfectly calm and I'm so upset that I feel like I'm going to throw up, cry and pass out. I'm sick of everything." She sounded horrible, twisted and turned around her voice cracking and unsteady. Her eyes were dark, her skin pale, all the things that would have had any normal man caving and cradling her.

"Would you rather I be like you? Emotions all over the place, everyone always knowing my business, screaming and out of control." His voice was a snap, angry and losing some of the glacial quality he'd worked so hard to cultivate.

"Yes! Ok, yes there it is. I wish you were like that, I wish that you'd show me something, anything but the annoyance that we're having this conversation. I wish that just for once you'd actlually say how your feeling instead of making me guess." Her voice started out angry but turned to an almost desperate pleading tone, a craving.

"Fine." He snapped, running his hands through his hair.

"You want to know how I'm feeling? I'm mad, I'm so angry that I want to break something. I'm mad that there is always so much drama between us. I'm mad that you found out. I'm mad that the world isn't fair and now you know it. I'm mad that Larek's escorting you to dinner. I'm furious that your letting him, Gods do you even think about me? Do you even think about my feelings, about how I would feel about that? You're mine, and I don't want someone else-"

He cut himself off abruptly turning away. He'd said too much, let the raging emotions show for a minute, let too much slip. That he'd been to honest, that he'd spoken from his heart and that it hurt to say. Hurt to admit but he'd done it and now he couldn't take it back.

"What did you want me to say? I can't exactly say No to a King on a peace treaty mission, besides nobody knows about us. And maybe, just maybe I wanted to make you jealous. Maybe I wanted to see if you'd even care, because obviously you don't care about anything else. You don't care about what I want, or how I feel, or whether I'm happy." She was still angry, fighting and aiming to wound.

"I care." He didn't sound genuine, he sounded pissed off and angry at having to say it.

"That's a first.-"

He spun back around, getting right in her face. He reached out, grabbing the chain around her neck to pull his dog tags into view with a taut chain. "What do you think this is? Because I'm fracking sure it's not a symbol of friendship."

"You said I got to be first, well I don't feel like I'm ever first for you." Her voice was sharp still full of anger, staring intently at his chest.

"What do you want from me? I'm sick of your attitude."

She stared up at him. "I want you, I want more than just glimpses of who you are in stolen moments. I want a real relationship, I want less walls. I want you to be nice to me once in a while, to actually seem excited to see me-"

He cut her off. "What you want is a marriage, a Granix. Well you won't get it from me. So forget about it."

"No! Don't order me around, Gods, you always do that. You tell me what to do and I hate it. You think everything is always about you and its not, and that everyone should do whatever you say because your scary. Don't be mean all the time, couldn't you at least be nice when telling me no? No...no that's just to hard for you isn't." She sounded so bitter, all of her broken expectations of him crashing around them, between them, in waves of pain, in ripples of dissapointment.

"What I want to know, is if I'm such a jerk then why do you want to be with me so much?"

She didn't say anything, she couldn't say anything over the rushing noise of her emotions, of her fears, in her ears.

He nodded, pursing his lips. "That's what I thought."

He yanked the dogtags still in his hand. The chain around her neck snapped apart, one horrible sharp final sound.

It was like a moment in slow motion, the chain breaking away from her neck catching the golden glints of the sunlight as it flew away from her. The shattered, disarrayed sunbeams adding the painful poignancy, the terrible finality to the moment.

He turned and walked off, strong steady steps with the dogtags hanging from his hand.

Once the door to her room shut she seemed to snap out of it. Her hand reached slowly up to her neck, feeling the lack of weight, feeling the chafed skin from where he broke the chain. Finding the single drop of blood from where the chain had cut her from the force of his snap.

"Rath!...Rath wait!" She was screaming it, desperate, trying to run for the door. But her movements weren't controlled enough, her haste, her desperation, making her trip and fall.

She hit the floor hard, coming to her knees, her hand still clutching the blood on her neck. She stared at the door desperately, but he didn't come back through, he was already gone and not looking back. She let her outstretched hand fall back to the ground after a long moment and stared at the door with huge, frantic black eyes.

Vilandra turned away after a minute, the open misery in Q's face too hard to look at. She walked over to the bed, debating whether to nap or not but never got the chance to make her choice.

The door opened and Rath slunk in, stopping dead at the sight of her.

"Too high and mighty to knock?" She queried him with a quizical brow, wondering why he would be sneaking into her room.

"I didn't think you would be here." He muttered, closing the door behind him.

"Pray tell then, if I wasn't supposed to be here why were you coming to my room?" Now she was slightly annoyed, he'd pretty much just admitted he'd wanted to be in her room when she wasn't there. Pretty much admitted he was coming there to steal stuff, or spy.

He glanced around, looking for an excuse. He grabbed her brush off her vanity. "I came to borrow this."

She rolled her eyes, not believing a word he was saying. "You never brush your hair, Rath."

"Exactly, see that's why I needed it. Apparently I don't have one of these..." He sounded more convincing this time, but his quick thinking still wasn't convincing enough to fool her.

"So why are you really here? Because I know, you know, Antar know, it's not to borrow my hairbrush."

He idly picked up her perfume and sniffed it, he made a face before returning it to the counter. "I have to escort you to dinner, orders from the King."

She snickered at his sarcastic, mocking tones, when referring to Zan. But it made her wonder, there hadn't really been enough time for him to go talk to Zan after he'd left Q on the balcony. Was it really Zan's idea or Rath's own to make Q jealous, to not be outdone because she was getting escorted by a King.

"Still not following you. See you made the mistake of admitting you weren't expecting me to be here...so coming to escort me doesn't fly." She pointed out his mistakes idly, amused, but also slightly disturbed. Rath, whatever he was, was thorough, he didn't make little mistakes like this, he kept his lies in line. Gods, he must be upset and distracted to make mistakes like this even with her, because for him one misstep one fumbled lie could mean his life.

He shrugged nonchalantly, slipping further into the room but she was watching him closely and the answer was revealed. She watched as his eyes flicked over to the balcony then back to her.

"When did you get back?" It was a seemingly innocent question but she knew him well enough to hear the slight anxiety underlying the cool, casual tones.

She shrugged, she would play the game by his rules, it did her no good for him to know that she knew about his little forbidden trysts. "About 3 seconds before you showed up, I wanted to freshen up before dinner."

"Well don't let me stop you." Was his reply as he turned away, back to the window. His detatchment, his politness to stay out of her way was all a facade. This was the real reason he came, to watch her, to see her reactions even now, even after he walked away from her. Snuck into Vilandra's room in the off chance that she was still on the balcony, the sad pathetic truth that he was addicted. The reality that even when he was ending things he was still so obsessed that he practically stalked her, that he watched her from the shadows in some sick form of self-torture.

She walked over to stand next to his position against the wall, she picked up her perfume and sprayed it delicately. She glanced at the still figure on the balcony, still frozen where she'd fallen, a kneeling statue staring at the door waiting for someone who wouldn't be coming back.

"She's been like that since I got in. Was anything wrong when you walked her back?" Vilandra commented idly, watching the frozen planes of his face closely.

"No." His tone was dry, still slightly hurt from the fight he'd had earlier.

Vilandra checked her appearance in the mirror, satisfied with what she saw she glanced back at him. "She seems upset."

Rath turned away from the view, going over to sit on her bed. He looked as thoug he was admiring himself in the mirror, but she knew he wasn't. She knew that he'd really just discovered a more discreet way to stalk the girl, by watching her reflection instead of outright staring. "So she does."

Vilandra stared closer, feeling like picking at him. "She looks like she's waiting for something."

Rath shrugged, "Probably Larek to come get her."

"Him walking her the 3 hallways to the dining room bothers you, doesn't it?" Vilandra commented.

"Does it?" He parroted back at her, making it a question so he wouldn't have to answer.

"Yes it does." She declared decisively.

"And what makes you think that?" Was his dull reply as he laid back stretching out all over her bed.

"You got angry when he asked her. Then you purposely were a jerk, shooting him down."

"What? Are you watching me now?" He sat up abruptly, his gaze sharpening.

"It was obvious. Besides, can't I occasionally watch my fiance?" Her tones were light, betraying nothing of the curling tendrils of unease that she felt rising in her stomach.

His eyes went back to the mirror, back to the small frozen figure on the balcony. "Why are we putting up with this sham? Are we actually going to get married and spend the rest of our lives in a miserable lie?"

His voice was contemplative, angry and tinged with the sadness he never let show.

She stopped fixing her hair to turn and stare at him. Even though she wasn't in love with him it still hurt to have him actually say he didn't want to marry her. Of course she already knew that, but still it was a blow to her ego.

"Is it really a sham, Rath? Because I was pretty sure we are actually engaged, I mean this isn't a joke." It came out harsher than she intended, her voice laced with some of the hurt she felt.

He laughed, mirthless. "Don't go all high and mighty on me Lonnie. I know you don't want this, that you'll hate having to spend the nights with me instead of your lover. That you'll have to have my kids and pretend you love me."

"Maybe I don't, but don't pretend this is all for my good either. I know you'll hate it too, that you'll hate that I'm your wife and that she'll be reduced to being your what might have been because I won't tolerate you having a mistress." Her voice was equally as cool, but she spoke the truth. She might not love him but once they were married, he was hers and she wouldn't share him.

"She?" His eyes finally left the mirror and focused on her, his gaze intense.

"Your woman. I've heard the rumors, that your screwing some woman in the court." She covered her mistake quickly, latching onto the rumors that were flying around. Rumors Zan himself had started to dispel suspicion.

He shrugged, the suspicion leaving his eyes. He went back to staring out at the balcony obviously again at the pitter patter of precipitation. "It's starting to rain."

Vilandra nodded, turning to watch. The rain started to fall hard, bits of hail slamming into the deck finally causing a reaction from the frozen figure on the deck. Slowly, as if waking from a dream she stirred, idly looking around as if only now noticing where she was. Her hand reached up towards her neck, looking and grasping for something that was no longer there. Her huge black eyes went back to the door and sadness crushed her features, visible even through the thick blur of the precipitation. Soaking wet and getting pelted by hail she stood jerkily, as if she was an old woman and rising from the ground hurt her.

She pushed her soaking wet hair back standing still in the rain for a moment, letting the red droplets play over her, dousing her in a bloody river of red water. Dousing her in a vision of pain and torment that obviously matched her inner mood.

"She'll get herself sick if she stays out there." Rath said idly, the dryness not quite covering the worry he obviously felt.

Vilandra looked over at him, taking pity on him. "I'll go talk to her, make her go inside."

He nodded, it was what he wanted. Somebody to make her take care of herself.

She walked over to the balcony door, grabbing a huge sheet sized towel as she went. She opened the door making sure to keep herself under the dry overhang and scuttled the few feet over to where Q was.

"Come here, you'll get sick from the rain!" She yelled over the crashing sounds of thunder. Q turned to her, with such naked hope on her face that it twisted her heart but it switched to dissapointment at her identity.

All the same she obediently came over, letting herself get wrapped up in the towel and propelled into the room. She let Vilandra towel her off, not doing anything to help.

She swished the towel over the other girl's head, rubbing at the wet hair. She looked at her, at the drowned rat face with the towel framing it, at how young and vulnerable she looked. "What were you doing out there sweetie?"

"Waiting." Her voice was small, as if it was coming from a very long way away.

"For what?" Vilandra asked rubbing her hair again, giving the distant creature in front of her a smile.

"I was praying and I was waiting for it to come true." She sounded so confused, so lost, as if none of this made any sense to her. As if this reality wasn't real, as if she'd been somewhere entirely different with her prayers. Her eyes drifted away, going to empty space, going back to wherever she'd been on the balcony.

"Let's get you out of these wet clothes. So what were you praying for, you looked really distracted." Vilandra dropped the towel and started tugging on the ties that held the other girl's dress clothed, knowing instinctively that she wouldn't do it herself. She wasn't quite all with it, still waking from her prayer trance.

"For myself. For something I want, I've never asked for anything before..." She sounded so childlike, so naive in her beliefs that if she waited long enough all her prayers would come true. Gods, she was a true innocent, a true tool of the Order that bound her, trained not to ask for things.

The dress dropped away, leaving her in her soaking underslip. She shivered so Vilandra grabbed a dry slip off the bed.

"That has to go too, can you change yourself?"

But Q didn't answer, she was staring off into space, still waiting for whatever it is she'd asked for.

Sighing, she pulled the slip off too, revealing the modest undergarmets that were thankfully still dry.

Taking an appraising glance at the other girl's body she stopped dead. She was covered in bruises, big dark marks that couldn't have been any accident.

"What happened to you?" She heard the horror in her own voice, repressing the part of her that wanted to turn away and gag.

Q's eyes managed to focus back on her and she glanced down idly as if only noticing herself for the first time. Her fingers reached up self-conciously to touch her neck. "I fall down alot."

It wasn't a lie but it wasn't an answer either. It was an evasion, a half truth instead of the full one. Because with those bruises she probably did fall down alot, just not on her own.

Vilandra looked closer following her hand to her neck, noticing that some of the bruises were different. There were fading bruises on the base of her neck, not painful bruises, the type of bruises that comes from lips and stolen kisses. She could have laughed, the girl looked like she'd been beaten but all she cared about were the hickeys. The marks Rath had left on her, it wasn't safe for him to do that but it was Rath with his devil-may-care attitude, she was his woman and he would leave his marks.

"Who makes you fall down, sweetie?" She asked gently, guiding her over to sit on the edge of the bed.

Q didn't say anything, just sat there looking at the floor for a long time. Abruptly her eyes snapped up. "You were in my dream. The one I was having just now, did I tell you that?"

She wasn't sure where Q was going with this but she'd play along. "No, what was I doing?"

Q gave her an odd smile, then it dropped away. "Something bad. But Kivar made you. He's a bad man you know..."

She shook her head, "No I didn't know."

Q reached around her neck again, still finding nothing. "But you love him and that won't change. Love rules us all, leading us places we never shoud have gone... I don't blame you, though."

Panic touched her heart, what was happening, why was this girl so odd? "Blame me for what?"

Q stood up, wandering over to dig a dry slip out of the door. She glanced over her shoulder after she'd covered herself and her bruises.

"Any of it."

"Any of what?" She knew her voice was loud but she was so scared, what was she talking about?

She laughed, slightly hysterical as if she was on the edge of a breakdown. "What's already happened and what will happen. See you can't change it, it's already too late."

"Too late for what?" This time her voice was barely a whisper, holding everything still.

Their eyes met and Q smiled. "For me."

Vilandra turned away, finding it suddenly hard to breathe. A small hand touched her back, a comforting calming gesture. "Don't worry and don't blame yourself. You should go, it's almost dinner time.."

She nodded, confused slipping back onto the balcony and into her own room.

"What took you so long?" Rath demanded stopping his pacing.

She just looked up at him, utterly upset. He was there immediately, guiding, pushing her towards the chair. "What's wrong? Is Q ok?"

"No." She looked in the mirror at the perfect exterior that didn't reflect any of the desperate confusion she felt inside.

"Well tell me." Still so demanding, so final.

"She was all weird, like she'd come out of a trance. She couldn't change herself so I had to change her..." She looked at his face in the mirror, at the anxious features, at the burst of attraction in his face at the mention of his secret girlfriend without clothes on.

"And?" He was clutching the back of the chair, digging his fingers into the structure.

"She went all weird on me, all prophetic and freaky. She said she didn't blame me for anything and that it was too late for her... It was scary, Rath. Like she had no hope, like she thought she was going to die tomorrow."

He rubbed his face.

"She's just upset. We had a fight." Vilandra wasn't sure if he was trying to convince her or himself. Either way it didn't really work.

"She's covered in bruises." She had to tell him, Q hadn't told her who it was but she would tell Rath.

"What?" His voice was loud, uncontrolled. The vanity she was sititng at started to quake, his precious control spinning away from him.

"She's got bruises all over her. Like somebody's been beating her-"

The mirror cracked.

Vilandra glanced worriedly at her now broken mirror before making sure he'd controlled himself. When she was satisfied she continued on. "I asked her about it.-"

"And?" He cut in, not even giving her a chance to finish. It was so obvious he wanted a name, an identity of a person he could go kill.

She looked at the blood running down his wrist, at the big ugly self-inflicted cut there. "She said she fell down alot. I couldn't get her to tell me who it was."

"I'm going to kill him. No, I'm going to send his soul to the abyss and then slaughter his family." He was ranting, already heading for the door, completely out of control.

"Who?" She called after him, hoping she could stop him from doing something stupid.

Rath stopped dead, turning around. "Whoever it was. She's going to tell me and I'm going to kill them. It's as simple as that."

It wasn't as simple as that, but how could she get Rath to see that? How could she get him to understand that maybe there was a reason that she was covered in bruises, that he couldn't solve everything by killing?

"No."

He ignored her and raged off with her quickly following. He threw open the door to Q's room, not bothering to knock. She was half-dressed, standing there startled; attempting to cover herself by holding the dress in front of her body.

"Who was it? Why didn't you tell me?" He stalked over to her his loud angry words barely preceding him.

"What, what are you talking about?" She sounded genuinely confused, clutching the dress tighter.

"The bruises, who's been hurting you?" He was completly out of control, ready to fight, ready to kill.

Q didn't say anything, just backed away. He followed her stepping closer. "Let me see."

He was furious, grabbing at the dress she was holding in front of herself. She clutched it tighter, so he started pulling on her hands. "Let me see."

"No!" She tried to pull away from him but Rath was so much stronger.

"What's going on in here?" Larek yelled coming into the room from the hallway. Rath ignored him, still roughly manhandling Q, yanking and forcing her to do what she didn't want to.

He ripped the dress away, leaving her in her slip. Her slip that did nothing to cover the bruises on her arms.

Larek yanked on Rath, trying to pull away but Rath was having none of it. He shoved him out of the way, grabbing Q again, inspecting her. She was perfectly still in his grasp, not struggling or attempting to hide herself, just letting him look her over.

He pushed her chin up, making her meet his eyes. "Who did this?"

Larek stepped forward again but stopped at the sight of the ugly bruises, the black handprints of abuse on the girl. "What happened to you?"

Rath's face snapped away. "Get out. This has nothing to do with you."

Larek bristled at that, ignoring the comment and turning to Q. "Did he do this to you? Has he been-"

His questions cut off with the abrupt loss of air supply, Rath's hand was wrapped around his neck, holding him immobile while choking him. His hands clawed at Rath's wrist to no avail.Rath dropped him. "Out."

Larek scuttled away, but he'd already been forgotten. He wasn't dumb enough to pick a fight with Rath right now.

"Who?" It was a demand, followed with a shake.

She shook her head almost violently, her eyes rapidly going black. He shook her again, harder this time, some sort of attempt to shake some sense into her.

"Why didn't you fracking tell me? I can't protect you if I don't know your being hurt..." His voice was intense, burning hot with emotion, with upset, with hatred. His fingers were digging into her arms, his strength and anger so much stronger than he knew.

She shook her head again, "My fault."

He started to shake her, back and forth. Back and forth. Back and forth.

"Rath stop! Let her go, your hurting her..." It was Vilandra's own horrified voice tearing itself from her throat. He was going to hurt her, he was so out of control that he was going to accidentally shake her to death.

He stopped shaking her as abruptly as he'd started, but didn't release his hold on her.

"Tell me." It was a demand, an order that nobody could deny.

"I didn't know the bruises we're real."

She started to cry silently, the small tremors wracking her frame. It was the saddest thing Vilandra had ever seen, her small tears silent because she'd learned not to cry aloud.

"Are you stupid? How can you not know?" He was angry, disbelieving.

"I thought they were just dreams..." She trailed off her lilting tones dying away like a fading flower.

Rath shook her again, an attempt to snap her out of whatever funk she was falling into.

"Who?" Hellfire burned in his gaze, alighting everything he saw ablaze in the flames of his anguish.

"He'll kill me." She said it softly, the terror in her voice overtaking everything else in the room.

Rath pushed one of his hands into her hair, forcing her to look up at him. Forcing her to meet his eyes and see whatever hells that raged in them. "Nobody will hurt you, I won't let them. But you have to tell me."

Vilandra flinched away at the intensity in his tones, feeling like she'd been burned even though that horrible fate his voice promised wasn't for her. Oddly enough the intensity didn't phase Q, it seemed to comfort her.

Still holding his eyes she asked him something, soft, hopeful, naive. "Will you take away the bruises?"

"Yes." It was a promise, one bound in everything except blood.

She nodded, still with fear in her eyes. "You can't miss the council meeting in a week."

"I won't." Another promise, bound stronger than the one before. Answering all of her unspoken requests.

"Don't do anything stupid, like try and kill him." It was a command, one made out of fear for him.

His face was a nasty grimace, a promise bound stronger than the rest. "He's already dead."

She shook her head, another small silent sob. "No."

"Who?" This intense demand, stronger than the rest, one so strong she couldn't deny it. Couldn't have if she tried.

It was barely a whisper, one laced with so much fear it was palaptble.

"Nkyot."

...ooooooooooooooo

Isabel climbed out of the cruiser, feeling apprehensive. Kyle and Tess were chasing each other around the front yard screaming something about Buddha.

Kyle ran over and put Isabel in front of himself, using her as a shield. "Isabel save me! She's trying to turn me purple!"

Isabel looked over her shoulder then back at Tess. "Scorpion Slayer come face me like a man!"

"What's going on here?" The Sheriff asked, coming up and prying Kyle off of Isabel.

"He started it!" Tess declared, sounding all of five years old.

"Kyle?" He asked turning to his son.

"It was an accident." He proclaimed backing away.

"Was not! You did it on purpose!" Tess yelled at him.

"Well why don't you fix it with your super duper powers!"

"I can't." Tess yelled back.

"What happened?" The Sheriff demanded, stepping between the feuding teens.

"If you tell your so out of the Mini Scooby Gang. Scooby friends don't tell!" Kyle threatened her.

Tess's face pursed up, decisions, decisions. "Fine but you have to buy me a new one."

"Fine."

"Fine."

They walked off in opposite directions leaving the Sheriff and Isabel completely baffled.

The Sheriff shrugged, blowing off Kyle's odd behavior and went inside. "Amy?"

Isabel followed, seeing Alex, Max and Liz sitting on the couch. Max glanced up, "Hey."

His voice was tentative, wracked with questions and insecurity.

"Hey." Her voice was soft, equally as tentative.

"Popcorn?" Alex asked displaying a large bowl of the buttery treat. She walked over to the couch and sat down on the edge next to it.

"No thanks." She told him demurely.

"You alright?" Max asked her with his usual brotherly concern, showing no unease with her.

"Better. Just a little freaked."

"We should make a club for that. Being freaked out all the time by crazy body snatching aliens..." Alex declared.

"Yeah, let's call it the Anti-Body Snatching club. Like ABS club so that when we talk about it in public we sound all cool, like we work out all the time." Kyle pitched in, showing up with a meatball sub.

Liz just stared at him. "Let's not."

He shrugged, taking a huge bite, not perturbed in the least.

"Where's Maria and Michael?" Isabel asked starting to worry. Everyone seemed slightly down and tense even with the fronts of normality they were putting up.

Liz looked sad, "In the bedroom. Maria um, she's in a coma, like Q was. And Michael, well he's upset."

Isabel was quiet, wracked with guilt. "Is Michael ok?"

Max shruged, "He's Michael. Last time I checked he was sleeping."

She nodded, "Can I go check on them?"

Max nodded standing, "I'll go with you."

They walked down the hallway in silence until Max turned towards her at the door. "Are you really ok?"

"I think so. I'm in control right now, but I don't know if it will stay that way."

He nodded gently, "Well, just let me know how I can help. I have faith in you, I want you to know that."

Impuslively she hugged him hard. Max returned the hug equally as hard. "We've always stuck together and nothing can change that."

She smiled at him, "Thank you.."

Max was such a good brother, he didn't have all of the pressures Zan had had. He wasn't forced to rule a planet at 19 because his father was assinated, he wasn't in the middle of a civil war. Here Max was still just her kid brother, still just a dorky kid who liked science and protected his sister.

She slipped inside the room, being quiet so as not to wake the sleeping teens. But her silence was all in vain because Michael was already awake, standing by the window looking out. His eyes glanced over at her then returned to the view.

"How is she?" Isabel asked, really wanting to ask how he was but knowing that it all related back to Maria.

He kept looking out the window. "Who knows?"

He sounded dead, like he'd tried so hard to care but it was all too much so somewhere along the line he'd given up, given in. She wanted to sigh but didn't, Michael was always so difficult, so restrained. This wasn't good.

So she wandered over to the bed, looking down at Maria as she tossed and turned. Her hand flew out in one spastic motion,

"Michaeel." It was a cry, one lost in confusion and twisted in unreadable dreams.

Isabel looked up but he wasn't looking at the bed, just staring out the window as if he hadn't heard. "Are you ok?"

He was quiet for a long time, long enough that she thought he wasn't going to answer her question. Then he spoke, still in low, memory laden tones. "She's ahead of schedule. She's not supposed to fall into delerium until the 3rd day."

Okaaay.

"Well thats a good thing right? I mean that means she'll wake up sooner, right?" She was trying to be positive here, because out of the two concious people in the room Michael obviously wasn't going to be the optomistic one.

He looked over at her for a second, his copper eyes hard. "It means that she dies sooner."

"Michael she's not going to die! We did not go through all of this for her to just die!" Isabel's response was immediate.

It didn't seem to affect him, he merely looked up at the moon. "She died 2 days before the Shining of the Three. Full moon is in two weeks, I looked it up."

He turned around, meeting her eyes. "So that means we'll all be dead in two weeks. Maria sooner than that."

Isabel tentatively walked over to him, "Michael, this isn't Antar. Things are different this time, we aren't going to die."

He snorted, a sound of disbelief and looked away. "Isn't it though? Everything is repeating itself this time around no matter how hard I try to change it. She still got possessed..."

"Along with half our friends. Possession is like a trend. Look, so a few things have happened agian but so many things haven't. There's been no purification ritual, no army attack. And we didn't follow destiny, we're doing it right this time."

"Then why does it feel so wrong?" He sounded so hopeless, like he wanted to just go into the desert and die.

Isabel sat down on the edge of the bed. "Because you're scared, you're upset."

"I can't do this again. I can't go through it. I'm not Rath, I can't watch her go crazy and be weak and deal with her asking for someone else." Here it was the brutal truth, the crux of the problem. How could he go through with something when he knew it would hurt and how it would end?

Isabel was silent for a moment, staring at Maria's unrestful form. "But can you let her do it alone?"

"No." The answer was immediate, no hesitation. So here he was torn, torn by his desires to run away and not deal with anything and his desires to stay, to not break the promises to her. He'd said he'd always be there for her and now now was the test.

"So what will you do?" She asked, wondering if this was it. If this was where Michael Guerin would break, would totally lose it, tear off all his clothes and run screaming down the street.

"I can't...I don't know." He sounded so torn.

"Michael...noo." It was a moan from the bed.

"She needs you. Can't you see that?" Isabel told him softly.

"No." He still wasn't looking at the bed, avoiding watching her sleep, not even letting his eyes rest on any pictures of her in the room.

It was driving Isabel mad, how he wouldn't, couldn't look at Maria. "Maybe you'd see it if you looked at her."

He stared at Isabel for a moment, reading the dare in her eyes, taking the challenege he deliberately turned his eyes to the bed. He purposely made himself look at the figure sleeping there, locked his gaze on the long blonde locks spread across the pillows, to the pale face and small figure buried under the covers. She rolled onto her side, the disquiet of her sleep painfully obvious.

He walked over to the bed with silent, deliberate steps. He stared down at her, in anguish, in a type of sad peace. The moments only defined by the 3 deep breaths he took, then he reached out softly touching her lips with his fingers. She wondered what was running through his mind, what horrible memories were making Michael do this.

"I'll be back." He promised the sleeping girl, his fingers lingering over her lips.

Then he was gone, heading for the door.

"Where are you going?" Isabel called worriedly after him.

"To finish it." Was his solid reply, no room for argument.

"What will you do?" She asked again, anxious.

"Kill him." He was perfectly calm, as if this was merely a distasteful task that he would enjoy. That he was looking forward to ending a life..

He walked away and she heard him get to the front door before Max realized he was leaving.

"Michael, where are you going?" Max's voice was stern.

"To kill him."

"Nacedo is already taking care of it."

"It's my kill." He sounded almost whiny, in a mood to kill. He sounded like Rath.

"I wondered how long it would take for him to run away, for this room to suffocate him until he fled. He lasted longer this time, I suppose that's admirable." An amused voice commented dryly from the vanity.

She spun around, the door of the room shutting of it's own accord.

Nicholas.

"Get out! Get out of here." What was he doing here? Didn't he know they wanted him dead?

"No thanks. I have business to take care of." He stood up, idly stretching like a cat.

"I'll scream." She said starting forward, wanting to hurt him.

"Hmm I think not." He was so amused, infintely in control.

She tried to step forward but found she couldn't move, he'd frozen her, frozen her in the same way she'd frozen Rath so many years ago when he took Q from the palace.

"Let me go." She tried to keep the desperation out of her voice but it was to no avail.

He wandered over to the bed idly reaching out to touch Maria's lips in much the same way Michael had. "She's rather attractive, don't you think?"

His speculative tones twisted Isabel's stomach in fear and disgust. God, what would Michael think? "Leave her alone."

"Why because she's Rath's?" He asked lightly, as if he could read the thoughts that ran in her mind.

He smiled, cold, chilling, calculating. "That never stopped me before."

How true that was, as feared as Rath was both Nkyot and Kivar had used Q against him, made her into a weapon.

"You used to beat her." Isabel told him, remembering her flash.

He shrugged, stroking her cheek. "No, she used to dream I hit her. And well if she woke up with bruises in the morning that wasn't really my fault was it?"

"Why?" She was disgusted but also curious, what kind of sick motivation could he have had.

He turned away from Maria. "She said no. You see I was nice and offered her a very lovely proposition, but she kept refusing me and Kivar. So she had to be punished, then she had to die. She was ridiculously easy to break, to use to break Rath. So really you should blame her, see if she'd just said yes none of this would have happened."

Something dark lit in his eyes, "I've never liked taking no for an answer. It's something we have in common. You wouldn't take no for an answer... so you started the whole thing."

"What. what are you talking about?" She hated the fear in her own voice, the unknowing about the past.

"It was your fault you and Rath were engaged, your fault you couldn't marry Kivar or me and that Rath couldn't marry her openly..."

"No, it was the prophecies..." She denied, she hoped.

He shrugged sitting down on the bed, "Let me tell you a story."

Isabel tried to move but still found herself frozen. Nicholas smiled at her, infinitely amused by her helplessness.

"There once was a little princess who had 3 childhood companions, her brother Zan who was meant to be King, their friend Larek who was also meant to be a King, and Rath who was meant for the Army though he never knew it. The little princess was fascinated by this last dark little boy but one day he went away. She missed him terribly, missed him so much she made him into something he wasn't putting him on a pedestal so high nobody could ever compare. Then one day, many years later the boy came back as a man. He wasn't the same boy he'd been 9 years before, this time he was cold, emotionless and distant, determined to rise in the army. But the girl didn't care, she had to have him either way."

"No." She denied, her and Rath? Impossible.

He laughed flipping out a knife, "Yes. Rath was 17 when he came back and you fell for him, hard. But he never noticed you, never glanced in your direction the way you wanted him to, never took you to his bed. And it made you furious, so you went to the First Order with the prophecies and made them interpret it your way. Made them declare that you two were meant. They did and the engagement came about and you finally realized how wrong you had been about him, how horrible the two of you would be. But it was too late..."

He twirled the knife idly tracing a vein down Maria's arm. "It's always too late."

"Don't hurt her." She cried, sensing the palaptble cruelty that rolled off of him.

He shrugged still tracing the knife down her arm. "Why not? She could have avoided this, taken my deal, but she didn't."

He smiled at her, motioning her closer. Her controlled body took the three jerky steps towards the bed, sitting down in one controlled movement like a puppet. "I could make you watch her die... But that wouldn't be any fun."

Her breath was bated, frozen in terror and horror at him. At how she couldn't control the situation or guess his next move.

"Instead I'll make you suffer, show you the truth of my words because I know you don't believe my story."

"Ok." Her voice was soft, but she would let him hurt her, in her mind as long as he left Maria alone.

Once again it seemed he could sense her thoughts. He gave a nasty smile, "But not before I leave Rath a little present. A little something to jar his memory."

He dropped something into Maria's hand, a long shiny coil of a gleaming metal chain with something on the end. Rath's dog tags, she'd recognize them anywhere, but to see them here on Earth, now, it was flabbergasting.

He calmly wrapped the chain around her wrist, twining it back and forth, looping it again and again until just the dog tags themselves were in the palm of her hand. "I've always been big on dramatics."

Then he slit her wrist, dragging the knife slowly across it between two of the wrapped chains.

The blood spilled out, staining the yellow sheets a deep burgundy. He slowly wiped his knife clean using a clean part of the sheet, folded it and put it away.

He smiled and they were gone.

...oooooooooo

They were all sititng around, cleaning weapons in one of the tents on the tournament field. Nkyot swiped the cloth down his blade again, wanting to make sure it gleamed, he wanted to win this tournament.

Kivar and Rath were more lighthearted, always joking around because they knew for a fact they would win their next matches.

"Hey Kivar, toss me my knife." Rath called, throwing the knife he had into the wall unsatisfied with it.

Kivar complied by launching the knife across the room, not a friendly throw, a real deadly shot. The knife went spinning through the air aiming to kill, but Rath didn't even turn his head. Just reached out and caught it by the handle, midrotation without blinking an eye.

Jealousy surged through Nkyot, if he'd tried that he would have been dead, but he wasn't Rath. He wasn't icy cool, he didn't think throwing knives at eachother was a regular part of friendship but then again he hadn't been paired with Rath or Kivar during training. Personally he thought that pairing had been a mistake, the two of them together was akin to setting a nuclear bomb off.

Rath shoved the knife in his boot, "You throw like a girl."

"Piss off palace boy." Another knife went whizzing through the air causing Rath to duck, laughing. What was wrong with these people?

"Palace Boy?" Rath queried sounding flippant but deadly.

"Well a) you live in the palace b) your practically royalty c) the princess is allllllllll over you d) it sounded good. So yes, in conclusion I dub you palace boy." Kivar declared ticking everything off, laughing. They were both insane, Rath and Kivar, both broken by training and turned into something completely different by the Uron bond. Rath went from a mischevious boy to this icy cold, determined monster who was rising faster than anyone ever had in the Army. He was chilly and dark with an aura of ruthlessness that clung to him in a shadow. And Kivar went from a shy prince into a sleek, charming snake that everyone liked because he hid the ruthlessness that lurked in all of them.

"Lonnie isn't all over me." He said twirling another knife around.

"You done her?" Kivar asked idly strapping a switchblade to his leg.

"Nope."

"I'd do her." Kivar said, looking up with a smile.

Rath returned the feral grin, Kivar was practically legendary. Out of their training group Kivar was the ladies man, always having to fend the more deilcate species off.

Rath pointed a knife at him, no real rancor behind the threat. "Don't talk about my sister like that."

"What bout you, Nkyot? Would you do her?" Kivar asked, looking over at him.

"Yes, sir. Have you seen those legs?" He crooned, demonstrating with his hands in the air. Kivar laughed in agreement, reaching over to give him a friendly shove.

Rath pointed the knife at him too, with a raised brow. "Pervs."

"I thought you found her in your bed, man?" Nkyot asked Rath, having heard vestiges of the story.

He shrugged, "She was completely trashed."

"Sooo...Still not seeing the problem." Kivar said, poking Rath in the side with a staff.

"She's like my little sister." He muttered, pushing the staff away.

"Except that she's older than you." Nkyot pointed out.

"And she's stalking you." Kivar added.

"And your not actually related." Nkyot added again.

"And she wants to jump your bones." Kivar again.

"And she's gorgeous."

"Did I mention she was stalking you?" Kivar again.

"She's not stalking me..." Rath denied slipping on brass knuckles.

"Rath!" Vilandra appeared, flouncing into the tent carrying something. She floated over to him, running her fingers through his hair.

He whipped his head out of the way, "Lonnie."

Kivar made a face behind her back turning away to get some more weapons.

"I really think you'll win this tournament!" Vilandra declared optimistically.

"I don't lose." His response was cool, a distant block of ice.

Her face fell, "I didn't mean...I just...I just came to wish you good luck."

"I don't use luck." Equally as cold, equally as pointed to shut her down.

She floundered for a moment, "Well I wanted to wish you happy birthday! The big 18, and your already so high in the army..."

He looked at her for a second, "Go away, Lonnie."

"But...but I brought you some food. I made the kitchens make you some of your favorite foods..."

"So give it to some orphans. Look I need to concentrate not gab." He sounded annoyed that she wasn't doing what he said.

"Did you hear the news?" This princess was relentless, determined.

"Do I look like I care?" Was his bored response as he started mixing explosive powder.

Her face fell again, as if she was only now starting to realize how much she really annoyed him. "The prophecies say we're meant..."

Rath glanced up, not perturbed in the least as he took a long drink out of his flask. "I don't want a wife."

"But.."

He drained the rest of the alcoholc contents. "I don't want to have some chick waiting at home on me, I can't. I want to fight, to win, to lead not to have some woman tying me down. So the prophecies can go to the abyss."

She looked like she was going to cry or pass out, or both. She gaped for a minute, losing some of the consummate cool she was learning from the boy in front of her. "It's meant Rath, you can't do anything about it. The First Order says..."

He twirled the knife around, slicing his wrist. "Well I'll just have to have a chat with the First Order then, won't I?"

She stared at him, realization crashing across her lovely face. All of her dreams and false ideas crashing down around her. She looked at Rath, really looked at him, for probably the first time since he'd been back from training. And she didn't like what she saw.

"Be my guest." Was her cool response, something innocent in her face gone forever. She turned and slipped out, older, jaded by him. Jaded by the mistakes she'd made and would have to live with.

Nkyot and Kivar came back over, resuming their vacated spots. Kivar handed Rath another flask of the strong woksa soldiers preferred. Rath took a long drink, making no reaction to the burning sensation that must have been eating his throat alive.

"So you and the Princess, practically engaged. Way to go." Kivar said, laughing.

"Not if I have anything to say about it." Was the short reply.

"So you'll take on the First Order? And the Gods?" Nkyot asked tentatively.

A bark of not entirely sane laughter from the young man across from him. "Why the hell not? I'd like to see them try and make me."

Kivar laughed, equally unbalanced, the emotional scars from the recent training still showing strongly on both of them. "You'll give the Gods one helluva run for their money..."

"I don't think threatening our creators is exactly smart.." Nkyot tried to tell them, but the two of them were young and arrogant. Gods couldn't touch them, they'd walked through the abyss of hell and back, they'd survived the training so they deserved whatever they wanted.

Rath slit his wrist again with a laugh. "My day isn't complete until I've taught a diety a lesson..."

Kivar cracked up, "See Nkyot, what your forgetting is that nobody has ever made our Rath here do anything against his will. Not our lovely Masters during the training, not the Gods, and certainly not a Princess backed by the First Order..."

It was true, even during training they hadn't truly been able to make Rath obey. He'd been too strong, too cold, too good to really be mastered. There was one horrible incident where one of the teachers had tried...Nkyot shuddered at the memory.

"We're young, we're powerful, we've got the world at our feet." Kivar continued on, slapping Rath on the back. But they were young and stupid, not realizing that power would twist all of their souls before it was over. Not realizing that no matter how hard they thought they were, they were really still innocents.

"No, I've got the world at my feet." Rath corrected, draining the rest of the flask.

Kivar laughed, but someting dark sparkled in his eyes beneath the easy charm. "My mistake, I'm young powerful and good with women. While Rath here gets the world at his feet..."

"Well I'm ready to roll." Rath declared, standing up with one last check of his weapons and a slap on his thighs.

"That's all your taking for your hand to hand?" Nkyot asked in disbelief, Rath had knives and brass knuckles and some minor explosives but that was it. Barely any of what they were allowed, he and Kivar were packed up to the nines.

Rath gave a nasty smile, "It's all I need."

Kivar agreed seriously, from his perch on the fallen log. "See what you and I don't usually consider weapons Rath uses liberally. Like his belt, mess kit, dog tags, and hands..."

"I'm creative." Was the unstable proud response coated in ice.

Yes he was, there was one very well documented event that invovled only the use of a spoon on Rath's part. He shrugged, hiding his unease and distaste. "Point taken."

Kivar looked at his watch, "We've got some time to kill. Who's for blowing up Kathor?"

Rath looked serious, completely thoughtful for a moment. "No Kathor would be much to easy, besides Zan's got a lady friend from there. How about one its moons instead?"

The sulky look on Kivar's face passed away at the new plan, exploding a moon instead of a planet. Nkyot felt sick to his stomach, they were completely insane. Talking about mass destruction as if it was child's play.

"Oooohhh or there's a minor invasion out in the west we could take care of. Like a warm up!" Rath continued on, thinking of different ways they could play. He loved fighting, lived off the thrill, but then again didn't they all in a way? Weren't they all made into how they were today, with moods to kill and a touch of bloodlust every now and then?

"So what are they doing for your birthday at the palace Rath?" He cut in, hoping to forestall the next apocylapse at the hands of Rath and Kivar. Hopefully they'd mellow out once they got their akinos...

Rath was staring at himself in the mirror, making sure he looked good. "Party. They keep talking bout getting one of the Chosen to come sing or something. But it'll fall through."

"Why's that?"

Another nasty grin, "I told my mother that if any freaky kid starts singing I'll rip the girl's vocal cords out."

"You said that to your mother?" Kivar asked, hooting in disbelief.

Rath shrugged, "She knows me, or she should. Besides as religious as she is I doubt she'll risk me slaughtering one of the Chosen."

Kivar's smile faltered. "I wish my parents knew me that well."

"Your parents sold you into the army, mate. Life's tough." Rath replied, not perturbed in the least. Kivar's appearance at training had all been part of a political deal.

"So did yours." Kivar replied ticked.

"Like I said, life's tough...though for the record I don't think they got any political gain, just me out of the way for a few years." He was so distantly flippant about it, like the fact that they'd all been given up as children didn't touch his icy heart.

"And you'll be out of the way again soon, married off to the Princess..." Kivar added, trying to get a rise out of his friend.

Rath shrugged, "It'll never happen. That wedding will never take place."

He looked around, "Gods its loud in here. Anyone else hear that?"

"Nope, mate. Must be your impending doom..." Kivar announced, draining his woksa.

He shrugged, but Nkyot knew what was happening to him. It was starting, his akino, hopefully the collective concious would tame him. But he had a nasty feeling that it would change him, not tame him, and only make Rath worse.

Change was coming to all of them, would come to the twisted friendships they'd built in training, would come to their isolated hearts and broken dreams. Only time would tell where the three of them would end up.


	27. Chapter 215

AN: So here's part 21.5, it didn't really fit with part 21 or part 22 and what messages I wanted to get across. So we get a half part...cool, actually I just wrote it today in between packing everything up for college, so I'm not 100 percent satisfied with it but I wanted to get it out anyway. I may come back and edit it at a later date, we'll see. Off they go, weeehh!

Collision 21.5

Michael crawled into the Granolith chamber quietly, he'd needed to get away, to escape that room, to escape this harsh reality that was just his horrible life stuck on repeat.

He straightened up, looking around, wondering why he'd come. This place was just full of memories, definitely not an escape; definitely not a release. Too many memories were in this room, both lives. A first kiss, an attack, a death last time and then this time a breakdown. Two actually, his own then Maria's tear filled one but the aftermath had been nice. Holding and kissing, little jokes and fake arguments with no real rancor. God he just wanted Maria back, he just wanted her to wake up and everything be ok.

What had he done to deserve this pain, this never ending loop of horrors? He'd never asked for this, as Rath or Michael, but she'd come all the same and with her he'd understood joy and light, then known true pain.

His eyes glanced down, landing on the stone there, the same rock he'd thrown into the Granolith when he discovered it. He picked it up, feeling its weight in his hand. He looked at the glowing cone in the center of the chamber, the representation of the Gods that were torturing him and killing her.

He wanted to break it, to make this all explode because maybe if this was gone the cycle would break. If this was gone maybe everyone on Antar would leave them the fuck alone and let them have their own lives and maybe he could make Them suffer like he had.

He threw the rock, fueled with all his angry power, as hard as he could into the cone.

It bounced back, harmless, having no effect on the glowing center.

"You always were the angry one." An idle comment, the familiar voice filled with sentimentality.

What the hell?

He spun around, looking for the speaker. God, he was starting to lose it. That voice was from Antar, probably long dead in the fighting.

"But I guess some things never change." The figure melted out of the shadows off to his left in the same freaky way he always had.

"Well they should." Michael snapped, thoroughly wigging out, this wasn't Antar he was imagining this. He'd finally snapped.

The other laughed, that age old amusement filling the room. He was older looking, but then again half a century would do that to you. Though he didn't look nearly as old as if it had been half a century of Earth time, lives were longer there.

"Are you just going to laugh at me? Or are you here to fix everything, because if you aren't you can get the hell away. I don't want to have some mystic chat because really it didn't help all that much last time and I'm not in the mood for it. See my girlfriend is in a coma…again and the last time she was in one you fucked with my head so you can just stay over there."

Gods he was babbling like Maria, but even that small realization hurt to think. He was so upset, so worked over that he really didn't want to talk to Arhal right now, didn't want to have to deal with all that shit. This was his life, not Rath's and he was damned if he'd let himself make the same mistakes.

"Michael…so you're who she was always talking about. Somehow I imagined you to be a bit less like Rath…a bit nicer."

Fabulous, he was getting insulted by an alien prophet in a holy relic. Could his day, his life get any worse than it was at this moment?

"Still not in the mood to chat." His voice was sharp, a warning, he had no problem taking out some of his anger on this being in front of him.

"I'm here to help." He sounded gentler this time, as if he knew that Michael wasn't Rath and had no tolerance for him just because he was an embodiment of religion.

Something occurred to him, something major that he'd missed before. "How exactly are you here?"

"Portal. Kivar has a long distance portal travel in the palace, let's just say I'm borrowing it." He grinned a bit of something nasty showing there, he'd been changed by time, roughened by it.

"Fine. Why?"

"Because I made a promise to someone. Look, I want to apologize for last time…I was bound. It was Antar and there my role is watcher, guider, not to participate just help the planet through the rough times. Here, Earth I can do whatever I want."

He sounded sincere, as if this had been weighing on his conscience for a very long time. But Michael didn't want apologies he wanted it fixed, he wanted actions. "I think everyone's sorry about last time."

Arhal nodded, the mirrored eyes shadowed. He held something out. "I promised I'd give you this. Maria…when she took over Q wrote it for you…."

He laughed, an old memory, an old smile. "Then she made Rath give it to me, I think she terrified him because she was so demanding."

"She terrifies me sometimes." He muttered reaching out to take the offered item.

It was old, some sort of paper, showing the test of time. But it had his name on it in Maria's girly happy writing, even with the little heart she always used to dot the i in his name.

He gave a shaky laugh to avoid the shaky sob he wanted to give and opened the envelope with trembling hands. He had a feeling that whatever this said would change things, would break him. He started to read thinking of all the notes she wrote him in class, or little diddy's on the bottom of her orders,

"Michael,

There's so much I want to say, to tell you, but I'm um on Antar. It's scary here and it makes me miss you. Rath tries, he really does, but he's still kind of terrifying, he tries to be nice and I feel bad that I keep hurting him. But he's not you…he can't be and I just want it to be you so bad that I keep freaking out on him. He's starting to get used to it a bit, kind of like a bond of kinship, like how Max is my girlfriend because we were pining together, Rath is my Dissafriend because every time I wake up and it's him I get super disappointed and whenever it's me he gets super disappointed because he wants Q. I haven't actually told him we're Dissafriends though……."

He let out a choked laugh, Gods this was so Maria. Every little bubbly letter, every little random babble, every sentence. How she rambled on even in a letter, how she secretly decided to give Rath a stupid kinship name because it made him less scary, how she for once was actually smart enough not to tell someone that. How even she knew Rath wouldn't take kindly to it, how she was trying to make him feel better and laugh even from a really long time ago.

"Anyway, so you're like not even born yet and that's freaky. Well neither am I, which is even odder? Um, I'm not actually sure what's happening here, I keep skipping around to random points at the end of here. But there is good news because I know I'll get to see you again, unless I already have, I'm not sure because time is all wrong… Ok let me try that again, you'll get to see me again. Or that's what They promised me anyway."

He switched pages eagerly, reading the Marianess of his letter like it was the only thing that mattered.

"See I got kind of angry, and you know how I am when I get all worked up. Well I stormed into Their thing, castle in the skyish, very weird, or at least that's how I saw it. There was a lot of black and stars, you would have liked it, but anyway. Well I gave them an earful, there was a lot of screaming and pinching on my part, at least I think there was. Then They were really nice and I felt kind of bad, kind of like I'd been kicking a big mean dog that turned out to be the sweetest puppy ever… So They said that I'd get to go back to Earth and that we would get to have the chance that Q never had, the ending she always wanted. That it has to hurt because it's like winter, you can't really appreciate the warmth of the fire until you've been through the blackest, coldest part of winter. So then I told them that I was from New Mexico and we don't really have winters.. But the point here is that I got a lot of promises out of these people, that none of this was going to kill you, that we get a real chance, that-"

It cut off abruptly mid sentence, causing his stomach to clench.

He looked up, "It just cuts off."

Arhal shrugged, "I think Rath said that she got too excited and overexerted herself, so her body just shut down making her sleep. He sounded really relieved about it, actually. So what's it say?"

He stared at him, this was private. "Haven't you read it?"

"No clue how to read English, besides it didn't have my name on it."

"Um, that she and Rath are Dissafriends, he kind of scares her and that she apparently went and yelled at your Gods."

"Dissawhat? Never mind, I don't want to know. Yeah, well she thinks she yelled at them but really it was me that had all the yelling and hitting done to them. Possessions can get kind of nasty…." He rubbed his arm at the memory, as if a phantom slap still burned his skin.

He shook his head, "I've got to go, Kivar's heading my way and I don't want to get thrown in the dungeons again. Besides you need to get back, now."

Dungeons? How much had Antar changed, to lock the Chosen away.

He turned over his shoulder, "Nicholas, he's smart, he's ruthless. He's insane, but part of him still loves Vilandra. Part of him resents Kivar for leading, part of him is still loyal to Rath. Use it and you might win. Oh and keep the brown haired boy, Kyle, away from the desert…and Vegas."

He shook his head as if something there amused him. "I can't change the past, but I can break the cycle for you…."

"Do it." Michael demanded, not caring in the least about whether Kyle ended up in gamblers anonymous.

He opened his mouth and Michael already knew the words that would come out. "Everything has its price."

"I'll pay it." The response was immediate, the same as Rath had been so many years before. He could only hope the price wasn't the same, but Maria had said they'd get their chance.

Arhal smiled at him, not the same sad smile of the Gods so many years before. A happy smile. "Good call. Now go, you need to be back."

He left.

………………………………..

Maria felt the knife go across her wrist through the delirium. It was such a familiar sensation one that caused all of the darkness around her to become a place, a memory...

"Rath, what's this?" She asked, idly picking up the contraption in front of her. His room always confused her, there were so many dark things around, things she didn't recognize.

He reached out, grabbing it out of her hands. "Nothing."

She shrugged, turning away to examine things more. She loved when she got to be in his rooms, his personal space, she loved getting to explore them. She picked something else up, it looked like a bunch of rings strung together, so she slipped it on her fingers. Smiling she turned to him, "Do I wear it like this?"

He glanced over from where he was rifling through some papers, then he turned back to what he was doing. A second passed then his head snapped around again in a double take.

He rushed over, "Take that off. You'll hurt yourself."

She let him take it away with a frown, "What is it?"

"Weapon." His voice was succinct, warning her not to ask more about it. But today was a day she was going to push him, make him start to change.

"What kind? It looks like a bunch of rings..."

"You really wanna know?" His voice was daring but also a little surprised.

She nodded, "Yup I like hearing about what you do.'

He looked even more surprised but shrugged reaching out for her hand. He slipped the connected rings back on her fingers, stopping over the knuckles. "Now make a fist."

She did, well actually he curled her fingers into a fist, watching as the weapon slipped into place, the metal cool against her fingers. "Now what?"

He smirked at her, "Now you punch people and don't get a broken hand."

"Cool!" She exclaimed flinging her hand around pretending to punch invisible people.

"No! No, you're doing it all wrong, Q." He said, positioning himself behind her. He took her arm and pushed it through the proper motion, keeping the wrist locked.

His voice was low in her ear, a growl that's heat tickled her. "Like this. Now aim for the weak spots, like under the jaw, the eyes and the base of the neck."

"What about the nose?" She asked, thinking about all of the bloody noses people seemed to get.

He pulled her a little tighter against his chest. "Distraction point. It bleeds a lot but no real lasting effect; it won't put anybody out of commission."

She spun around in his arms, throwing her arms around his neck. She loved it when he was like this, nice and open. "It would put me out of commission."

He laughed a low rumble that she could feel through his chest. "A broken nail would put you out of commission, doll."

She hated it when he called her doll, she wasn't some little thing made of glass that little girls kept on their shelves in their rooms. She wouldn't break if he hugged her too hard; no matter how much she knew he secretly thought she would. She wasn't delicate, she was strong.

She pulled away from him, "I'm not a baby, and I'm not weak. I'm strong just as strong as you."

"You're a woman." He was shutting down again, getting colder and more distant.

"What's that got to do with it? That's so pigheaded I can't even stand it. How can you just say that, women are just as strong as men." She exploded at him he was so...so... macho and high and mighty.

He shook his head, "Know how many women are in my army?...None. Because they can't take it, they couldn't survive it...women should wash dishes and stuff."

She was starting to see red, her anger at his blatant sexism taking everything over. "Wash dishes and stuff? You're seriously unhinged if you think I'd ever spend my life washing dishes and stuff.-"

"I didn't mean you, I just-" He attempted to cut it, to forestall his impending doom.

She cut him off, steam rolling right over him. "You think that just because you're a man you're somehow better than me? That because you're a foot taller and have big muscles and know how to use little metal punchy things-"

"Brass knuckles." He cut in correcting her in an almost tired voice.

She ignored him, "Little metal punchy thingies. That you're stronger, well I'll have you know you're wrong. I can do anything you've done, I could go through your little training-"

"Never say that again, never ever talk about going through the training." He was screaming at her, backing away as if she would hurt him.

He turned breathing hard, putting his back to her. "I don't even want to think about it."

Blood was running down his hand, dripping onto the floor from the self-inflicted cut.

"I didn't mean-" she tried instantly hating herself for upsetting him, for getting him so worked up he was hurting himself.

"Then you should have kept your mouth shut. You don't know anything about my past and I don't want you to." His voice was hard, his back still to her.

She stared at the blood running down his arm, at the pool on the floor, he'd cut himself again. When he'd given her his dog tags she'd told him that had to stop, that she would take away his past. Something in her snapped, changing and cementing. She couldn't coddle Rath into being a better person, into seeing that he was hurting himself, well she would show him them.

She looked at the brass knuckles still dangling from her fingers, they looked nice and sharp. They'd do the job. Clutching them tightly she drug one across her wrist in one quick violent motion.

She gasped, it hurt, she'd expected the pain, she'd known it would come from the Purification, but she didn't expect it to keep going. She wanted to understand him, to see why he would do this to himself.

She stared at the blood running down her hand starting to feel slightly lightheaded, she'd always hated the sight of blood. She let the little metal punchy thing, his brass knuckles drop to the ground with a clunk.

"Too late." She whispered.

He spun around at her voice, taking in the scene in one horrible instant. His face contorted, his horror taking over the usually icy expressions. "What did you do?"

He rushed over, grabbing for her wrist, screaming at her. He was so angry, so furious with her. "Are you insane? Are you trying to kill yourself? Why would you do something like this?"

She pulled her bloody arm out of his grasp, "Why would you? I wanted to see why you do it all the time, but I still don't understand."

Some of his anger drained away and he reached for her arm again. "Let me heal it."

"No. Not till you fix yourself, not till you promise me you won't do it again, not till you tell me why." She backed away from him leaving a trail of blood in her wake. She felt like a caged animal, wildly alive but hurting.

He held up his own wrist, the already closed cuts there. It was an ugly thing, crisscrossed with an endless number of scars, new and old. "Now let me fix it."

"No! I wanna know why!" She screamed at him but he grabbed her wrist anyway trying to make the connection spring to life. She kept her eyes away from his, tried to block him and it seemed to work but there was already a half formed connection between them, one she hadn't allowed and couldn't stop. He went down the partially formed bond, not needing eye contact or her permission, and roughly knitted the skin back together.

He pulled out of the bond, but didn't let go of her physically. He drug her over to a cabinet and pulled out gauze and all sorts of other things. He picked her up silently, angrily, and set her on the counter, grabbing her leg tightly when she tried to kick him.

"I'm not in a mood to play." His voice was low, dangerous, threatening.

"I want to know why." She demanded, as he wiped the stinging antiseptic over her cut a bit rougher than he needed to.

He didn't respond, just placed gauze over it and began tightly wrapping the wound. Eventually he glanced up, "You'll have a scar."

"Goody, we'll match. Now tell me why you do it." She knew her voice was equally as dangerous, equally as threatening, or as close to it as she could come.

He ripped the bandage, beginning to secure it with tape. He was being stubbornly silent and she wasn't going to tolerate it anymore.

"Fine. Every time you slit your wrist I'll slit mine until I understand why." She meant it, she meant every word. She would make him learn what it's like to watch someone you love self destruct on a daily basis.

He looked up, mid taping, their eyes locking. He was furious with her, still completely angry. "Do you know what it was like for me to see you do that?"

Funny how his intense, emotion laded tones didn't affect her. She stared right back, making him see how she felt. "Yes. I see you do it everyday, now maybe you understand what it does to me."

Their stare broke, his face turning sharply away as if she'd smacked him. He took a deep breath, drinking in the final moments of silence. Still not looking at her he admitted the truth in a low voice, some things couldn't be said loudly.

"Reality check. The pain stops the memories and brings everything back into focus, making the world seem less...painful."

She was afraid to breathe, afraid to break this moment, afraid she'd snap him out of this. Afraid he'd stop telling her why, he'd close the door again to who was inside, who he used to be, and that she'd never see it again.

"I want to do it all the time, the urges are always there because when I'm bleeding I know I'm alive."

She slid her hand slowly up his cheek feeling the rough stubble there, ever so slowly turning his head back to her. He looked at her, black eyed, with all of the horrors he'd known raging in his gaze. All of his fears, his fear that she'd reject him.

He continued on, his voice choked with everything he'd never wanted to feel. "I'm not good for you. I'm not right inside, I'm twisted and empty, filled only with the darkness they left me."

"Rath...we all have darkness it's what makes the light seem so bright. And you shine so bright..." Her voice was soft, sweet and convincing. She didn't want him to hate himself anymore, he was who he was and to her he was beautiful.

He was silent, which was a good sign. She smiled at him, looping her other arm around his neck to pull him closer. "There's something I want to do all the time that makes me feel alive. Will you try it next time you want to hurt yourself?"

"Depends on what it is." His voice was gruff, her nonrejection affecting him more than he wanted her to know as he leaned his forehead against hers.

She rubbed her hand up and down his cheek again, feeling the prickly sensation of his stubble. That's how he always was, prickly at first touch, rough on the exterior but soft and smooth underneath. Were the two of them sick because they understood each other, understood the emptiness that raged inside? Were they somehow wrong because to understand each other they had to feel the other's pain, had to use actions instead of words? She didn't know and she really didn't care.

She pulled his face closer, letting her lips brush his, letting herself fall into the familiar beautiful movements they made. His response was immediate hungry and emotional but still oh so gentle. She fell into him, into the sensation, into the feelings of belonging and completeness, letting him fill the emptiness in her. She could almost feel his soul, it was a breath away, not quite tangible but not quite out of reach either, just a soft brush against hers.

This was hurting his back, his odd half bent position was painful and somehow she knew, somehow she felt it as he did. So there was no surprise when he lifted her easily off the counter, no thought when her legs wrapped around his waist in response. No distress when her head landed on the pillows of his bed, it was warm, it smelled like him, it was home.

They stayed like that for a long time, lost in each other, lost in soft kisses, so close to being one, to being something more than they were alone. But he was holding back, holding part of himself apart not letting their souls take the next step, not letting them merge and she didn't know what the next step was. So their souls danced, on the verge of something greater, soft brushes against each other here and there but never the blending that should have come.

Eventually the kisses stopped, when or why she didn't know but the closeness remained letting her slip into her first truly comfortable sleep.

She drifted slowly, noticing first how good it smelled, how warm and safe. Then she heard the slow steady heartbeat under her ear and felt the arms around her, the hand idly stroking her back, warmth and safety. She burrowed closer, not ready to open her eyes and have the moment end, not quite awake. She was in the place between waking and dreams, where the surroundings were real enough but the mind still floated free.

"Be quiet, I don't want you to wake her." She felt in through her face, rumbling through his chest, through the soft material of his shirt that she rested on.

"Why's she in your bed?" Zan's curious voice as he set something down on the bedside table.

"Why are you here?" His tones were a bit threatening.

She could practically see Zan smiling the way he always did whenever Rath avoided answering a question. "Well you're both still clothed so that's a good sign."

She had to work to keep her brow from furrowing, she was supposed to be fully asleep. She didn't understand the comment, why wouldn't they still be clothed?

"I wouldn't do that to her." Rath's calm response, a bit of rancor at the suggestion.

She was even more confused now, what wouldn't he do to her?

Zan shifted, a ruffle of clothes to her focused ears. "You're getting there, where it won't really be possible not to soon. It's not safe, Rath."

"I know." He sounded hurt, almost as if he was anguished in a dilemma.

She was starting to get scared, what wouldn't he do to her, what couldn't he avoid? Was he going to kill her and eat her or maybe just kill her. Maybe he was going to yell at her, or leave her in the Holy Lands again. But what did Zan mean about no clothes? Did you usually kill people when they weren't wearing clothes...but all the men she'd seen him kill had been clothed. Maybe he was going to erase her memory then send her to a different planet where they'd eat her.

"It almost happened today." Rath's soft voice.

She couldn't recall Rath looking at her like he was going to eat her. She almost giggled or screamed, she had serious issues with an overactive imagination. Rath wasn't going to eat her, though it would be nice if they ate when Zan went away, her stomach was kind of growly.

"You can't let it. She was sent Rath, given by the Gods."

He was quiet a moment, then in a soft voice he admitted something to his brother in everything but blood. She could feel the heat of his gaze boring into her, memorizing her sleeping face.

"I know…and sometimes I think they sent her for me, not Antar. That maybe she's here just to save me…"

She smiled against him because sometimes…sometimes she thought the same thing. That she was sent to him because he'd suffered enough and secretly she thought it made more sense. What gifts did she have for Antar….none…just a message freeing him. But those thoughts were blasphemy and she wasn't quite ready to completely throw off her circlet just yet.

Zan shifted, "Maybe, maybe not. That's a bit high and mighty…anyway why's her arm all bandaged up?"

Rath growled. Growled like that lion she'd seen when she and Tav went to the Earth compound. Growl growl growl, like her tummy.

"She slit her wrist."

There was a shocked silence. Then finally Zan whispered, full of horror and disgust. "Why?"

Rath shifted her slightly, somehow managing to get her closer than she already was. "To see why I do it."

"Both of you need serious mental help. Who's crazy enough to hurt themselves to see why their.. well I don't know what you are to her...does it. And who's insane enough to do it in the first place." Zan sounded almost angry as he left.

What was Rath to her? That was easy...he was her world, then and now, now and forever.

He paused, somewhere across the room. "You're lucky. She really loves you."

The door slammed. Rath's voice was soft, barely a whisper, barely a vibration through his chest to her ear. "It's mutual."

She smiled against him, it was nice to know you were loved even if you weren't sure if it was a dream or not.


	28. Chapter 22

**AN: **Hey Ya'll, I loved the reviews as always. Anyway, this part is shorter bc I'm posting it from a hotel room on my way to college and I wanted to get it out before I got there bc I don't know how much writing time I'll have in the next fw weeks till I work things out. Oh and I wrote a random one shot about Rath's pov watching Michael and Maria, its on called "Reflections:Through the Glass"

higherbeingfriendsfan: I'm happy you liked Valenti and thought it was like the show. He was always there for them on tv and I wanted to keep it real here...Yay for liking the ending bc part 21 was a touch super angsty.

Magali: Ha yeah I know about all the angst, it was a bit much, but that's what happens when you write after getting shots in your head and are still on the meds..

Candylovin Fehrian: You're right, Michael really needed Arhal to talk some sense into him. He was really getting messed up there and Arhal was a, if not welcome, needed surprise. The Sheriff, yeah he and Kyle have similair humors...I mean who do you think Kyle got it from? On Kyle and Tess, theres more in the next part bc I needed a fix... LOL on Michael 'helping' Nicholas to an early death...so true, very long overdue. They have a little scene in this part, explaining some things. I'm super excited about having an official favorite story, totally made my day when I was all sad bc I was packing.

Caitiri: Thanks for the review Good to know your reading it!

**Collision 22 "Awakening"**

_Fall into the flood of your awakening  
Drown. You're a trace of what I used to be_

Waging the battle for the appreciation you'll never win  
Behold the army that will harken with open souls  
A tiny voice of pester softer than a drop of a pin  
And so naive thinking you were  
The source you told  
I was composing the beginning before you had begun

_"The awakening" demon hunter_

Kyle bounced the ball idly off the wall in front of him, he was bored. It bounced back, into his waiting hands but still he was bored. He snuck a glance over at Tess who was lying on her stomach on the floor with a photo album in front of her.

He wondered if she was still mad at him, he really hadn't done it on purpose; he'd just been trying to his dad a favor. And how was he supposed to know that she'd left her copy of "The Little Mermaid" in the video player, the same copy that she'd had since she was a little girl? How was he supposed to know that it was the first movie she saw after hatching and that this was her only copy? He'd just wanted to tape the big game for his dad…. So he'd accidentally taped over it and now he was stuck wondering how much groveling he was going to have to do to make up for this.

"Tess, are you still mad at me?" He knew his voice was slightly tentative, kind of like a kicked puppy.

She glanced up with a sigh, "I'm not mad at you, I'm just….just…."

"Upset in general?" He tried; girls had all these extra feelings he didn't really understand. His world consisted of hungry, sleepy, horny, angry and happy but girls….they had a whole gamut of feelings. Like x-ray feelings that he couldn't see or understand while he just had the standard rainbow.

She rolled on her back, "Exactly, with Maria and everything going on I just flipped. Losing Ariel and Flounder….it's just like my arm got ripped away, they've been with me for so long and now they're not. They were there in the very beginning, they helped me learn English and now they're gone and it's like it's the end..."

Kyle thought about it for a minute, it's like when his mom left she took his baby blanket with her, the one she'd given him when he was born and then all of a sudden it was gone and he had no security blanket. He'd thought it was the end of the world, but he hadn't told anybody he'd just tried to be tough. His dad had told him that it was just a new beginning for them, but he couldn't quote his dad or he'd sound like a sap.

"Buddha says that from every end comes a new beginning. So losing your movie…it's like a new beginning, instead of having memories of Nacedo and a lonely childhood linked to it you'll have new happy memories when I get you a new one. I'll even get you two movies, so it'll be even better…"

"Scooby Doo?" She asked hopefully, her cute little face perking up at the thought as she sat up.

He grinned at her, "Scooby Doo."

Her weight hit his legs like a small furry collision of happiness. She was hugging his legs, actually clinging to him in a weird kneeling position. He wasn't sure what to do, what the proper Kyle response for this situation was so he tentatively patted her springy blonde curls.

"Wanna help me with something?" She asked, looking up at him with an expression he couldn't deny.

"What is it?" He asked tentatively, if it was making cookies he was totally down for it, but if it was braiding hair it was so not happening.

She beamed at him, "I'm making my first scrapbook. See I want to have book of memories, and then I can show it to Maria when she wakes up…"

"That's girly." He whined, he wasn't a scrap booker he'd saved the world for goodness's sake.

She rolled her eyes at him as she pulled him off the chair and onto the floor with her, "Too hard for you, Scorpion Slayer?"

"Hey! If you're gonna call me Scorpion Slayer it should be in deference not mockery because if I hadn't killed that scorpion who knows where we'd be today?" Tess had no respect for him or his endeavors; she should be worshipping the ground at his feet.

She rolled her eyes at him, placing a stack of pictures in his lap. "Find me a good picture."

"Of what?" He asked, secretly thinking it was pretty cool he got to pick the pictures. It meant he was running the show, directing where this book would go.

She just glared at him, so he obediently started to rifle through the pictures. He plucked the first picture of himself he could find out, grinning. It was a picture from summer, the time he Maria and Max had randomly ended up at the lake. That had been an interesting day, Max had moped until Maria threw him into the lake and Maria had pretended she was a mermaid because apparently if you were a mermaid that meant an alien was going to actually return your phone calls one day…

He handed it to Tess, "Doesn't this involve snacks?"

She looked down at the picture, at the three of their faces crammed onto the snapshot with Maria's arm outstretched holding the camera. "Cute. But no this isn't a food oriented activity."

He pouted at her, "Can we make it one?"

She ignored him, doing some snippy thing to the picture. He watched transfixed as she mounted it using glue, stickers and lots of sparkly stuff.

"Another picture, don't start slacking off now Buddha boy."

He rifled through his choices again, selecting a candid snapshot of Maria and Michael from his apartment. For once they actually looked relaxed, her head curled up against his shoulder as they watched the movie with various other people framing them. Kyle and Alex were on the floor stuffing their faces with Tess looking at them in disgust and Max was talking to whoever snapped the shot.

"Here."

She took it and stared down at it, "I look really bad in this, and you look like a pig. But Maria and Michael look cute, which lasted all of 5 seconds after Isabel took the picture."

She smiled at him, "Michael pitched a fit about having his picture taken, and then Maria got mad at Michael for something….."

He smiled back remembering the screaming fit because Maria had thrown some of his popcorn, "Life in Roswell, New Mexico it's never boring…"

Screams echoed through the air, just as the door flew open. Karma, he really should learn to keep his mouth shut. Kyle jumped up reaching for his rifle, figuring he could handle whoever was at the door while someone else could deal with the screams.

Michael.

It was just Michael, all but running into the house not even sparing a glance for the gun pointed at him. He raced down the hallway towards Isabel's loud screams for Max.

Kyle followed.

…………………………

Michael came crashing into the room right behind Max. The sight made him stop dead, fear constricting his heart.

The formerly yellow sheets were a dark burgundy, a red so deep it was almost black. Maria was just lying there, paler than the moon shining brightly through the window bathing the room in a swath of moonlight. Isabel was off to the side, screaming her head off and yelling at them but he couldn't hear a word she was saying. Everything was just a roar of noise, the background of horror framing her limp form on the bed. Max was saying something too but it was just lost to the roar as he hovered over Maria, connecting and healing whatever harms had come to her.

He stared as Max worked his magic, stared lost to the confines of his beating heart, trapped in the noise of his own racing heartbeat. This was all too much, too horrible, too real for him to even begin to comprehend.

She still wasn't moving, what if she was dead?

The thought made him feel curiously empty, or maybe that was the shock he was going into. Either way he was empty, so cold and dry, not a single feeling floating through him. And it felt right, felt familiar, like this was how he was supposed to be, wrapped in this icy abyss where he could watch and be unaffected. This was how it had been before, back in the good ole days, back before she came into his life. Before he heard her voice, saw her, felt her pressed into his arms, before she ruined him. This emptiness this was how it was supposed to be, how it should have been. He could live like this; there was no pain, no disappointment, just his control, and the surety that he was in complete control.

Max moved away, wiping the sweat from his brow motioning for Michael to go over to the bed.

He said something, but it didn't register, nothing really registered anymore.

He walked over, looking down at her with distant interest and she was looking back.

He jumped back startled; her eyes had been open, confused green eyes staring back up at him.

"Michael? No…Rath? Michael? Rath? Michael?" She was like a confused parrot, stuck on repeating a cycle of names.

"Michael say something." It was Isabel hissing at him, she was always hissing something at him like he was a stupid four year old with no manners.

He moved back over to the bed warily, in disbelief, she was still awake, she was still saying random names with sound coming out of her mouth.

"Maria?" It was guttural, choked out from somewhere around his diaphragm.

She stopped talking, one of the few times he'd ever managed to actually silence her with her name. She looked at him, unsure, on the verge of hysteria. "Michael?"

"Yeah." It was all he could say, suddenly feeling way too many things at once. She wasn't supposed to wake up yet, it hadn't even been a day, it was supposed to take 5 days. She was doing this all wrong; it had to take 5 days, just like last time.

She stared back at him, still out of it.

"How are you feeling?" He asked, partly for lack of anything else to say and partly because he'd asked it last time.

She blinked at him, "Ice cream."

Okkaaaaay.

He wanted to sit down on the bed with her but those sheets were still all bloody. That had to change.

"You, um, want ice cream?" He asked in disbelief, scratching his eyebrow. The girl is in a coma and the first thing she wants is ice cream, no hello kiss, no professions of undying love. Just ice cream.

She shook her head, "No. Like ice cream."

He scratched his eyebrow again, still completely confused. "Look, um, I'm not gonna let anybody eat you or anything like that…."

She didn't seem comforted by that, she just glared at him like he was a complete moron. "You're not very bright..."

Ouch.

Suddenly he had an inkling of what it must be like to be Kyle Valenti with people shooting you down and looking at you like you were stupid all the time.

"Yeah well you're no star in the classroom either..." he muttered, trying to pull back the blanket so he could change the sheets.

"Michael!" Isabel's scandalized tones scolding him again, but as usual he ignored her.

Maria grabbed the comforter, holding it tight. "Mine. No see."

No see? What the hell? Since when was Maria like a cave man.

"Me see." He told her, hoping the simpler tones would get through as he yanked on the blanket again.

She looked completely scandalized and clutched her blankets tighter. "First Order says no see."

Ah. Not completely Maria, a bit of Q. The good old you can't see the Chosen without clothes on rule, well he'd broken that last time.

He scratched his eyebrows at a loss, "You want some ice cream?"

Someone whacked him on the back of the head but he didn't bother turning around to see who it was. "I just want to change the sheets, ok? See you bled on them and they got all dirty."

She looked, as if only now noticing all of the blood. "Ewwww."

He rolled his eyes, pulling her out of the bed, wrapped securely in her clean comforter, and into his arms. He sat down at the vanity, sitting her wrapped self across his lap.

He looked over to the bed, good his little minions were already on it. Fred and Daphne were all over changing that bed and de bloodifying it, allowing him to turn his attention back to Maria.

"So, like ice cream, huh?" He tried, conversation was good, and it meant she was awake. And if she was looking at him like he was stupid and annoying her he knew it was Maria, she always looked at him like that.

"Yes, in mouth." She agreed, patting his chest down with a very determined pattern.

Ice cream in the mouth….how did ice cream feel in his mouth? Cold!

"You're cold!" He exclaimed, not even giving her an askance glance as she whacked him particularly hard above his heart.

"Cold, very cold…..Pillow." She agreed as she replaced her hand with her head.

He had a strong feeling that he was the pillow and the pillow he would stay.

"I always wanted to be a pillow..." He said then shook his head, he sounded like Kyle. This was such a bad situation he was channeling Kyle Valenti…

"Bed's ready." Max told him, over his shoulder.

He scooped her up again, managing a nod at her mother who was hovering near the bed.

Her arm snaked up to wrap around his neck and he stopped dead. He stared at it, at what was there, at something he'd never thought he'd see again. Something he'd never wanted to see again.

He freed one of his hands, supporting her with one arm, and touched the cool metal wound around her wrist. It was real and he wanted it off of her. He started trying to unwind the chain but she balled her hand into a fist.

"Mine." She told him, daring him to try and take it away.

She was starting to get heavy so he deposited her on the bed, all without letting go of her hand. He crawled up on the bed next to her, determined to get his dog tags off.

"Let me have it."

She shook her head sleepily, "Mine. Rath gave I keep."

Well wasn't he Rath in a way?

"I like presents, don't you like presents? I'm supposed to get a present when I wake up…." She rambled off at him, not completely all there, confusing the awakenings.

She smiled crazily up at him, "Rath gave me lots of presents, like a napkin holder and a knife…."

He'd given her that napkin holder and it had been a damn fine napkin holder too, it had been spring activated and painted and everything. Rath had had nothing to do with the forging of that napkin holder, it was totally pre Rath waking up and ruining his life.

Ok, he needed to not get angry about the napkin holder. He needed to focus, it wasn't her fault she was confused, besides he could always clarify that it was his napkin holder later…

"Tell you what I'll give you a present if you give me one…" He could bargain this, she would give him the dog tags and he would give her…..well crap anything really the girl was all loopy.

"Kayyy" She beamed at him.

Then her face puckered, "What you want?"

He rubbed the chain still securely wrapped around her wrist. "This."

She looked at it, unwrapping it slowly before shaking her head and dropping it over her neck. "Rath wouldn't like that."

He growled, "Rath would love that, see we're close like that…"

She shrugged, "Ok. But my present first."

"Ok" he glanced around, that box of tissues was looking pretty good. "What do you want?"

She clapped, sitting bolt right up, dangerously close to his face. She beamed at him, that happy Maria 'I'm getting presents because I'm so fabulously special and I better like your present or else' look all over her face.

Ok that look made him nervous; it always had and probably always will.

"Kiss." She declared looking around the room at all the people, then back at him. "From you."

He grinned, this was sweet. He could kiss her, not the way he really wanted too with her mother in the room but a kiss all the same. "Done."

He leaned forward, catching her lips with his. Mmmmm, yeah. This was what made up for all the screaming they did. He scooted closer for easier access, working his hand into her hair.

His face was ripped away from Maria's in one violent jerk on the back of my head causing him to stare into an irate Mrs.DeLuca's face.

"I think that's enough of your….present." She was terrifying, completely and utterly terrifying and he feared for his life.

"Mmm, you're a better kisser than Rath." Maria declared in a dreamy voice.

"What?" His voice was sharp with anger. Since when were Maria and Rath all kissy kissy, what happened to Dissafriends, huh? Maria was his, and he was completely pissed about this. Ok, so he was jealous of himself…again... but that didn't matter, nobody should be kissing Maria but him. Jealousy flared through him, burning his veins. Burning everything in his line of sight, inside and out.

"I thought he was your Dissafriend." He accused.

"What's a Dissafriend? And if they're getting action can I have one?" Kyle asked loudly.

"Shut up, Kyle." Several people in the room called on cue with many rolled eyes.

Maria beamed up sleepily at him from her back; she pulled the dog tags off. "Here's your present, but I want them back."

He took it, not deterred in the least. "About Rath..."

"He's my boyfriend, he gives me presents…" She giggled.

"No, no. See I am the boyfriend I gave you the napkin holder, me not Rath. Me." He told her urgently, angrily, jealousy, loudly.

"Michael! Calm down, she's confused." It was Max, pulling him away annoyed.

"God, you aliens have so many issues. So she snogged you in the past, big whoop, at least it was still you…." Kyle, God he hoped somebody smacked that kid. Maybe Tess she seemed to like keeping him in line.

"It was my napkin holder." He muttered sulkily, still ridiculously jealous over Rath. Still feeling threatened, still wanting to punch something, anything because it never ended.

"Top shelf of the closet." She smiled at him again, before letting her eyes drift shut.

Not getting it he wandered over to the closet, and there front and center squished between two stuffed animals was his napkin holder. He smiled faintly at it before wandering back over to the bed.

Her eyes fluttered open again, "Granolith, take me."

He pushed some hair off of her forehead, feeling a curious tightening in his chest. "When you're feeling a little better."

"Lock the door." She mumbled at him before drifting away to sleep.

His eyes felt tight, hot and wet. Lock the door, lock the door that meant I care, that I want you safe….that I love you. Lock the door, the last thing he said to her before Q took her, before this nightmare repeated itself.

"Man, I guess she really doesn't want the bed bugs to bite." Kyle commented idly.

"Valenti shut up. For once in your pathetic life just keep your mouth shut and if you don't…." He twirled on Kyle, angry. Gods, he always had to be the center of attention, not caring what moments he was ruining, not caring about anything.

Kyle shifted on his feet, then dropped his eyes. "Sorry."

"Now will somebody explain why I leave for twenty minutes and Maria gets attacked." It wasn't a question, it was a demand laced with danger, laced with steel, laced with a promise of pain for whoever did this.

Max looked around, "In the front room. I have a feeling this conversation will involve yelling…"

"No. Here, because oddly enough I don't feel like leaving again." Michael snapped, leaning deliberately against the wall to prove his point.

Isabel looked around nervously, looking guilty. "After you left Nicholas appeared. He froze me, I couldn't move, I couldn't stop him. He was angry about Fonbar so he slit her wrist and showed me a memory of his."

"I hate that guy, he's such a creeper." Tess said with a shiver causing Kyle to throw an arm around her.

Michael was uncharacteristically silent, not exploding, just a small tic in his cheek. "What was the memory?"

Isabel shifted feet, taking a deep breath. "It was before any of it really started, you'd just come back from training. It was near your 18th birthday…and you, Kivar and Nkyot were preparing weapons for some sort of tournament. It was horrible, sick, you were all so twisted, you and Kivar kept throwing knives at each other and talking about mass destruction. I came in to visit you, I was totally obsessed with Rath, it was sick and the First Order had just declared that we were tied by destiny……and I think…I think it was all my fault. I think that I wanted you to notice me so bad I made them, I showed them the prophecies and made them interpret them my way."

Michael turned away, breathing hard. He was going to break something, he needed to destroy anything. All that pain, all that suffering, all that death just for a girlhood crush? Her death just because Vilandra had to have it her way, always her way.

"It wasn't your fault Iz. The First Order…they made their own choices, irregardless of Vilandra and us, they always had." Max's cool voice, there to comfort and soothe away the guilt.

"How could you? God, how could you do that? It was my life, Isabel, it wasn't just a play thing. It was my fucking life." He spun on her, anger out of control, fury and despair coiling into a million sharp daggers that were stabbing him. A million what might have beens racing through his mind, a thousand pictures of the life he could have had with Q, with Maria, appearing in his mind.

"Michael!" Max warning him not to say another word, but since when did he ever listen to Max?

"It was her life." His tones were softer, though no less angry or intense. Still laced with that horrible hateful despair, touched with the tiredness of knowing he couldn't change anything but would always be angry with the world. They all knew who she was, there'd never been anyone else for him.

"I'm sorry, okay? Look it wasn't me, and it was a mistake. You don't think it ruined my life too? That I wasn't as trapped as you were, as bound? I wanted out, I wanted to marry Kivar and if I had…none of the rebellion would have happened." Isabel screaming back at him, though at the end it wasn't just her. Part of Vilandra was showing through, her dreams, her ambitions.

"Yeah, Kivar's a great guy, had you killed with the rest of us. Really awesome husband material." He might have just redefined the term sarcasm.

"He wasn't always bad, you were friends once, closer than anything else. Nkyot too, you were all so close. Where did it go wrong Rath? Who screwed that up, who started the personal grudges that got us slaughtered because I'm pretty sure I didn't betray them." Vilandra now, the cool mocking tones so familiar, Vilandra now as she'd been near the end. Cruel.

"You didn't betray them, no you betrayed us, Lonnie. And they betrayed you." He laughed Rath's dark laugh.

She was quiet at that, what could she say to the bitter truth that she couldn't deny. She'd betrayed her family for her lovers, and her lovers had betrayed her for power.

"And now? Now I'd gladly betray you." He paused, giving a slow bone chilling smile.

"If I see you in her face again I'll rip your soul apart and leave you floating in the abyss." It was a promise.

She disappeared out of Isabel's face, slipping back to wherever she hid, wherever she plotted. He rolled his shoulders, letting go of some of Rath's intensity but still acutely aware of the weight of the dog tags around his neck. This time they seemed heavier and he had a strong feeling it wasn't just the change in gravity.

Isabel gave him a weak smile, "Thanks, I think that really shook her up."

"I didn't do it for you." He turned away, going over to the bed again in a way inadvertently showing everyone who he really did it for.

Mrs.DeLuca was there, stroking Maria's hair gently. "Are you done yelling?"

He shrugged, fixing the covers.

"So what do we do about Nicholas?" Tess asked.

"We kill him." Michael replied, completely serious.

"Oh goody, murder!" Kyle exclaimed sarcastically with fake enthusiasm.

………………………………..

Isabel's words stayed with Michael, festering, mocking, combining with the weight around his neck. They'd been friends, they'd trained together, and they'd earned their dog tags together………

……………………………..

He shifted slightly in the new uniform, feeling the unfamiliar weight of the Commander's insignia on his shoulders. The uniform was new, but the responsibility wasn't, he'd already been leading this army before Zan made it official. And now, now he was their General, he was on top and these men training in front of him, they were his.

They were new elites, just out of the hellish training all elite soldiers had to go through and they were broken. But he'd fix that, he'd reform them and mold them into better soldiers because they'd made it.

He walked along the row, inspecting these men, there were the eager ones, the cold ones, the nervous ones and the determined ones.

"You're about to get your first assignments, your first mission. You've made it through the training, survived a brief glimpse of hell. But are you ready to walk there, to live there, to master that hell?"

"Sir, yes, sir." A prompt response from all the men in front of him.

He waved his hand away at the formalities. "Forget rigor, that's for footsoldiers. Where you're going you'll need reflexes, creativity, brains. Going by the book won't get you anything but a knife in your back."

"Creativity, sir?" One of the determined ones, pretending not to be phased by who he was.

He gave a cold smile, looking the man over. There. "Give me your ring."

Startled, the boy hurriedly handed it over. Rath inspected it, big and thick. "This ring is one of your weapons. I'm here, to show you how to use it. I've lost too many men because they weren't creative, because when they lost their weapons they were useless. But this is my army now, and things will change."

There was a roar of agreement, of excitement. He stared at them, they needed to understand. "This ring? Perfect size for choking your enemy. They get it lodged in their throat and the throat contacts, keeping it there while they choke themselves to death."

He tossed the ring back, instruction over, looking at the alarmed faces before him. They would learn or they would die.

"Rath." Nkyot yelled, stalking in to the training room.

He glanced over his shoulder, "Dismissed."

They left, filing out in perfect lines, perfect drones.

"What do you want?" He asked instead, focusing on his friend as they walked to his office.

"I want to know why." It was a demand, one laced with anger and anguish.

He almost sighed, he didn't want to deal with this. Instead he sat down. "Why what?"

"Why you made Kivar a Second and not me!"

Rath scratched his eyebrow, Nkyot and he were friends but after this? Who knew. He had to be honest and that would hurt.

"It's politics, you know that. Kivar came to this army to become a second, all part of a political deal between our parents."

"Since when do politics matter to you?' It was a snap.

"Since I became General, I want to lead. I play the game." He was being cold and he knew it, but it was the sad truth.

"But Kivar-"

He cut Nkyot off. "Kivar used to be a prince, still is to his people. He has the blood, he gets the job. Our parents help make us, it's the caste system. And yours? You were just some kid who was a bit too ruthless, so when the army came for you they gave you up willingly. It's life, and it sucks and its tough. But there you have it."

That should have ended it, but it didn't. Nkyot was too worked up, too upset at getting passed over.

"T'ron comes from just a poor as background as I do. Explain him, the two of you weren't even friends….you hate his guts."

Rath shrugged, T'ron was one of the best, it was as simple as that. He may not like the guy, but his strategic knowledge is unsurpassable. "He deserved it. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. I may not like him, but I need him."

Nkyot's face twisted, "Are you saying I'm not good enough? That I couldn't take it."

"What if I am?" This wasn't a play group, it was the armed forces. It wasn't about friends, it was about protecting Antar, and to protect Antar he needed the best at his side.

He took a breath, letting the challenge in his voice drop away. This was going to hurt, but the truth always does.

"Do you even know what I require of my Seconds? I've fought with you, trained with you, I know your style inside and out. And you wouldn't even pass the test for consideration. Your not stable enough."

Nkyot laughed, the ruthlessness showing through. "Not stable enough? I'm the only stable one of the three of us… You and Kivar, your both insane, power crazy. You may project this cool, icy controlled image, but I know what rages inside you. Like you said we trained together, I was there when you lost it-"

"That's enough, Trinol." His voice was ice, unmovable whipping out rank to make his point. Trinol, all he would ever be, all because Kivar made him his third because Kivar understood, knew he would never be one of Rath's Seconds.

What everyone else saw, Nkyot never could, that he wasn't as good as his friends. That he couldn't ever hope to match Rath or Kivar, that they would always be better, always a step ahead, a shade faster, a touch smarter. Or maybe he understood, maybe he understood it better than anyone else and it had just festered too much, too long. Maybe somewhere along the line that jealous friendship had turned to a form of loving hate.

"Give me the test." He was angry, a touch desperate. He had something to prove.

Rath almost sighed, this was how it would have to be. He had to see, had to learn, had to be humiliated to understand his place.

He twisted his wrist, releasing the knife up his sleeve, and threw it at his friend all in one fluid movement.

It made contact, slicing the shoulder tendon. Nkyot hadn't even seen it coming, hadn't caught it or even moved to the side.

That should have never happened, not even with a trainee. Sometimes he wondered how Nkyot had even made it out of their training, how he'd survived it when so many better ones hadn't. Sure he was ruthless, more than most, but that could be taught.

Nkyot looked at him and ripped the knife out of his shoulder. "Again. I wasn't ready."

"You should always be ready. You think I gave Kivar any warning? No, I threw it at his back. T'ron while he was sleeping. If he can wake up and avoid getting hit by a knife then you should be able to manage one thrown directly at you."

"I want another chance. The next test." He was crazy, demanding.

Rath rubbed his face, standing up. "This isn't about chances. You're not good enough, accept it and do what you can."

"Kivar would-"

"No he wouldn't. Kivar understands how this has to be. Even if he would, he's not in charge." Kivar undesrtood, Nkyot didn't. He was smart, mind games were his place, stalking and ruining his enemy that way but that did Rath no good for leadership positions. Nkyot was a field man, not a leader.

He threw the other knife, watching as it did the same thing to Nkyot's other shoulder.

"Your second chance." He said idly. Nkyot couldn't pass this test if he tried and the knife throwing….it was just the beginning.

"Commander?" A tentative golden voice from behind him. He turned to see her. She was holding something in her hand, twisting it nervously. Good, she should be nervous. She stared at the knife in Nkyot's shoulder with wide eyes.

He looked at Nkyot, "Dismissed."

He looked pissed, broken, humiliated. But all the same he ripped the knife out of his shoulder, letting the blood gush out to the girl's horror.

"Your knife." He threw it, but Rath caught it easily with a smile.

He left, still with that murderous, hateful glint in his eyes. Hopefully he'd get over it.

"Congratulations on your promotion." She was trying to be nice, but she was obviously disturbed by what she'd just seen. Well this was his life.

"Priestess." It was a sharp nod, he didn't want to deal with her.

She shifted again, looking hurt. "The First Order wanted me to give you this."

She thrust the envelope at him, he reached out to take it. Their hands brushed and he nearly jumped back at the electric contact there. He needed to remember not to do that or he'd end up kissing her again.

He opened the envelope and scanned the contents. It was an invitation to the blessing of the new chamber of the Granolith they'd found and it was for tomorrow. He looked up coolly, "Just get this?"

She shook her head, "I've um had it for about a week now."

Great, she was delaying it on purpose. He'd had enough of insubordinate shit today.

"You should have given it to me then. See most people like warning about events like this. Lucky for you I can still go."

She looked away, angry.

He laughed, stepping closer to her. "Did I ruin your little plan?"

She turned to go, "I'd say its been a pleasure, but then I'd be lying."

"Or would you?" He mocked. He had no idea why he was doing this to her, why he felt this need to torment her. Well he did, but it wasn't something he needed to analyze or feel, she was trouble for him.

She turned back to him, "Look here soldier boy."

She kept talking but he didn't hear the words, his eyes were watching her lips move transfixed. He should have never kissed her, but he'd needed to shut her up. He didn't want to go to some blessing of the Granolith, he'd have to be near her…and that was dangerous.

He'd end this, get it out of his system, scare her away.

"Tell me something, priestess." He stepped closer again, stalking her. She stepped back, reflexively her eyes widening a bit. She was so infuriatingly innocent, so perfect for working out his anger on.

"What?" Her voice was breathy, affected.

"Why are you here?" He slipped closer, advancing on her. Without even realizing she was doing it she was still backing away from the danger she felt.

"I…to deliver your invite."

"See I don't buy that, the Chosen aren't couriers. I think you're here to see me…" He kept his voice low, distracting.

She blushed and Gods help him he found it attractive. That wouldn't do, he didn't want this, he didn't need this. He could prevent it, could refreeze his quickly thawing feelings.

"Maybe." Her voice was a bit of a challenge, a bit saucy.

"Tell me something else, priestess." Still getting ever closer to her, ever closer to back against the wall.

"What?" Still so breathy, so very affected by his very presence. It was exhilarating, a high.

"Do I affect you?" Just a few more baby steps.

She blinked at him, "You annoy me."

He almost laughed, but he had a part to play. He closed the distance between them a bit faster letting his voice drop to a whisper, "I make your heart race, your blood boil. I make you want to do things you've never done before.."

She nodded at him, unable to speak.

He slipped closer, he was there.

"Tell me something, priestess."

Her back slammed against the wall and she gasped in surprise. She looked around, unsure how she'd gotten there, starting to get frightened.

He laughed, "First rule of battle. Don't get distracted, or let yourself get backed into a corner."

She tried to slip to the side but he slammed his arm out, trapping her against the wall. He advanced, closing the space between them until he was so close he could hear her heart racing.

"Tell me something, priestess."

She shook her head violently.

He laughed mocking her distress, "No, see I say that and you say what. You have to play by the rules. Lets try that again."

"Tell me something, priestess."

He was enjoying this, enjoying her distress and confusion. But she'd wanted to play with fire…….and when you play with fire you get burnt.

As if compelled she whispered, "What?"

He leaned closer, so that their faces were millimeters apart. He could feel her heart racing against him, her quick breaths brushing his face. This would keep her away from him, scare her, put the distance there he needed.

"Do I scare you?" It was a whisper, his lips brushing hers slightly with every word.

Her mirrored eyes met his, but no fear was lurking there, only a type of amusement that she could see through his games and self defense mechanisms.

"No. I think I'm the one that scares you." Her voice was equally as quiet, equally as dark as his, letting their lips brush with her words in an odd type of featherlight threat.

Not the answer he'd been expecting, he'd been expecting a yes and then her fleeing. Apparently his games weren't going to work.. They'd always worked before, pushing people away, keeping them at bay.

He didn't have a reply for her, no snappy comeback.

"Rath! What are you doing?" Kivar's surprised voice as he entered the room.

She slipped by him, out of the little cage he'd been keeping her in with his arms. He watched her go, fascinated and angry. This wasn't working out the way he'd planned, he was just falling deeper into something he didn't want.

"Terrifying the innocent again? Or just a bit of mental torture for the girl?" Kivar cracked as they followed her out.

He gave Rath a cockeyed stare, "Why her?"

For a second he didn't know what he was talking about. Then he realized, he just meant why corner her and attempt to scare her away. He shrugged, "Why not?"

The answer pleased Kivar because he laughed. "Hey Qaelia girl. Wait up, I've got something to ask you."

She stopped looking back at them, though her eyes met Rath's. He didn't turn away, this was a challenge. He held her eyes until they caught up to her, staring her down.

"I've got a favor to ask." Kivar told her.

She broke eye contact to turn to look at him, "What is it?"

He rubbed the back of his head boyishly. "See I'm having this party and I wanted you to come, you could meet people and maybe even sing if you felt like it."

Party? Nobody had told him about any party, but it was probably just Kivar's people, his race. He let it go, he didn't want to go to any parties anyway, he hated them.

She seemed intrigued. "What would you want me to sing? Ballads, happy songs…"

Kivar almost blushed, rubbing his head again. "Actually I wrote something."

She stopped dead, looking at Kivar piercingly, seeing through the charming walls he put up. Whatever she saw she didn't like, "No."

She flounced off, leaving them both slightly confused. Kivar shrugged, "Worth a shot. She'll come around though."

Rath wasn't sure what to say to that, so he just stared after her. This was the second time he'd seen her, he thought it had gone well.

"Yeah."

………………………..

"Mom?" Maria asked, weakly sitting up.

"I'm here, baby. You feeling any better?" She said sweetly, stroking her daughter's hair.

Her arms gave out and she crumpled back to a laying position. "What happened?"

"Fonbar made Q possess you and you went to Q's time.." Amy explained softly, fixing pillows.

"Rath." She agreed. "He was there, he made me cry.."

She paused, rolling her head to the side. "Michael was there too, he flips burgers."

"He sure does, baby."

Her face rolled back, completely confused. "We got married, you know. Then he made me blush."

She giggled, "All over."

Amy had to work at keeping her lips from thinning into a tight line, but this wasn't her daughter talking. She was confused and definitely wasn't talking about Michael, unless they'd been hiding a marriage certificate.

"I know, sweetie." She knew, but really she didn't want to know any details about whatever had gone after Q and Rath's marriage ceremony.

"Can I have Michael now?" She sounded like she thought of him like a present, like the Barbie she'd been begging for months and it was finally Christmas.

"Of course. I'll go grab him." She stood up, with a kiss to her daughter's forehead and slipped out of the room.

She found him in the kitchen, eating a sandwich. "Maria's awake, she wants you."

He nodded, standing up with his food, "Thanks."

He walked into her room, looking at her lying there in the bed. He managed a smile at her excited face, slipping over to the bed.

"Hey."

"Michael!" She reached out, touching his arm softly with cold fingers.

He rubbed her hand between his, warming it. "Your hands are cold. You hungry?"

She nodded at him, so he helped her sit up, propping her up in a nest of pillows. "Granolith?"

He sighed nudging the sandwich, "Maybe after you eat. It's your favorite…."

She wrinkled her nose at him. "Not hungry."

Q had done this too, the whole 'I'm not hungry, boo food' thing that drove him crazy. People that little should always eat, because if they don't eat they will break.

He put the food in her lap. "I made it for you."

"You ate it. Bad Rath." She pointed out the bites, scolding him.

He scratched his eyebrow, ok so he'd been eating it, but he was being nice here, sharing and all that jazz. "I tested it."

"You made me a napkin holder." She stated, with a funny look.

"Yup, now eat up." He kissed her cheek in some sort of effort to prompt her, also to feel her to make sure she was real.

She poked the sandwich a few times and then caught his look. "Fine, just for you."

She took the smallest bite he'd ever seen anyone take then put it down. "Granolith."

"Half the sandwich first." He rubbed her leg, he couldn't seem to stop touching her.

She pouted but took another bite anyway, and another and another. While she ate he couldn't seem to keep his hands to himself, reaching out to push her hair behind her ear, rubbing her thigh through the blanket, flicking imaginary items off her shoulders. He watched her, fascinated, watched the little faces she made, the little Marianess that shined through.

She was done, smiling at him. Ok this was getting a bit out of control, a bit intense for as weak as she was. Her smile dropped away, her breath quickening.

Taking it as a cue he leaned closer, catching her lips with his.

She pulled away, shaking, on the verge of tears. "Granolith."

He felt like such an ass for doing this to her. "What's wrong?"

"I can't…Rath, Michael, it's all too blurry. It hurts, I don't….I don't want to be crazy…" She was crying now, clinging to him. This was familiar, the hysteria, the clinginess, the pain of knowing he couldn't fix it.

"Shhh. You're not crazy." He rubbed her back, letting her tremble against him.

"Rath.." It was mumbled against him.

God that hurt, that hurt so much. So much more than he wanted to admit, but he couldn't deny it, couldn't deny the jealous pain.

She looked up at him, pulling her tear stained face away. "The Granolith, please."

She was begging him, pleading with him. And he couldn't deny her, couldn't ever deny her.

"Ok, ok we'll go."

She wrapped her arms around his neck, clutching him as she shook tiredly. He stood taking her with him, knowing there was no way she could walk.

"It's ok. I'll make it ok, just calm down." They were out of the bedroom by now and she was full out sobbing again.

Mrs.DeLuca and the Sheriff got off the couch, Amy rubbing her daughters back as he let her clutch his waist. "What's wrong sweetie."

"I need the Granolith." It was a distressed cry, her sob wetting his already soaked shirt further.

He met her mother's eyes over Maria's head, she was scared but she understood. He needed to take her. "Grab my jacket."

She grabbed it off the couch, handing it to him. He wrapped it around Maria as best he could, holding it there so she wouldn't get any colder in her pajamas.

The Sheriff put on his hat, "I'll drive."

Michael nodded, that was good, now he could manage Maria without crashing the car and killing them both.

"Michael…." She was shaking even harder, trembling uncontrollably, exhausted but unable to stop.

He looked at Sheriff Valenti, "Let's go."

…………………..


	29. Chapter 23

**AN:** Ok ya'll as always I adored and cherished the reviews, it's good to know people are still reading this 23 parts later. So classes at college started today so we'll have to see about hwen i have time to write, so it may be more time between updates, or shorter parts. We'll have to wait and see.

**higherbeingfriendsfan:** Thanks for the review, your right about Tess and Kyle. There the comic releif duo for everything, especially for what's going on with Maria. We see in part 23 more of why Nkyot hated Rath, why it turned into something so big, so cruel and twisted and why he's still crazy today.

**CanydlovinFehrian: **Hah, everyone seems to love kyle and Tess in this fic which is great, they're awesome bc with them I can show that even when everything is horrible people are still smiling. The Granolith, we see what it does this part and how it helps or hurts people. I'm happy you liked seeing a bit of the beginning of the relationship because that's an important part, we saw a lot more of the beginning with Michael and Maria in the show and I wanted to mirror that a bit. Ok, so I know you hate Nicholas, past and present, and my guess is that after this part? You'll probably hate him even more...

**Magali:** Hey, thanks for the review and good wishes for college! Yeah, Nkyot wasn't good enough and people's vanities and jealousies are such a big part of why wars and stuff get started, we just never see it up close. Here we do, we also see in this part how Nkyot and Rath's relationship has deteriorated over time. We see what the Granolith does and doesn't do in this part...

**Collision 23 "Shadows like Statues"**

_we seek security in one another but there's no way to cover this  
and these tragic nights and afternoons wreak disaster  
and i can still feel you as if you were in the room  
where does our story end where does it start  
i buried you along with my heart _

entertain me and tell me "it didn't mean anything"  
it's vengous worth my tolerance and i could be careless  
but i promise you'll feel everything

"_Shadows like Statues" Matchbook Romance_

"Michael?" She asked causing him to look down to where she'd been sleeping.

"Yeah?" He asked, smoothing the hair off her forehead. They were in the back of the Jetta, her head cradled in his lap as she lay across the backseat.

"Where's my knife?" Her face puckered up in confusion.

He glanced up, his eyes meeting the Sheriff's in the rearview mirror. He managed to keep his voice calm, modulated, using her name in some hope it would help her remember who she was. "It's on Antar, Maria."

"So where are we?" She sounded even more confused, more frantic. She wasn't crying anymore but he wasn't sure how long that would last.

"We're going to the Granolith." He told her, placing fingers over her already opening mouth to keep her quiet.

"Shh, you need to rest." She nipped his finger with her teeth in response, causing him to yank his hand away.

"We're here" The Sheriff announced, brining the Jetta to a gravely stop. Michael looked out the window, indeed they were at the rock formation with a lot less drama than he'd expected. She'd finally fallen asleep once the car started moving, the shakes subsiding.

They managed to pull her out of the car, but her legs definitely weren't up to supporting her.

Michael picked her up, boosting her to where he could carry her up the side of the cliff without killing himself. It was a hard climb up the cliff face, especially with Maria's weight and little balance. Eventually they made it to the top and he opened the chamber.

"I'll wait out here," The Sheriff told him with a nod, positioning himself against a pod.

Michael nodded, dragging Maria through his pod and into the Granolith chamber she'd been craving. He stared at the cone in the middle, unsure of what to do. Carefully he set her down on the floor, "What do we do now?"

She looked around in awe, "Why are we here?"

"Because you demanded we come." His annoyance making his voice a taut line.

She just kept looking idly around until her eyes fixated on a spot across the chamber, the spot. The spot where everything had ended, where she'd died taking his soul and sanity with her.

She started to shake violently, scrabbling away from it, from him, attempting to curl herself into a tiny ball.

He squatted down next to her, "Maria?"

No response except a tighter ball, so he tentatively reached out to touch her shoulder causing her to flinch violently away.

He withdrew his hand feeling angry, frustrated and sad. "I'm not going to hurt you."

Her eyes flicked up at his soft tones, not the lovely green he expected, but a mirrory sheen. "No, but you'll let them hurt me."

He sat down hard off his haunches, feeling like she'd sucker punched him. That was cruel, below the belt, he couldn't change the past, he couldn't have stopped him. Why was she suddenly guilt tripping him, didn't she realize that he already was suffering for his failures? Didn't she realize that he'd hated himself for it, lost his sanity for it?

"Maria…." He wasn't sure what to say, how to respond to her anger, so he let it trail off in a question.

She glared at him, angry with a world she didn't understand and couldn't change.

"Don't be like this, just let's get you better.." He tried, hoping to forestall the crisis he could feel building in the air. He was starting to hate this place even more than he had, all it brought was pain, tears, suffering.

Her eyes flicked back over to the spot across the room, angry tears rolling down her face, screaming her pain at him. "You're not the one who has to die."

He rubbed his face, his own eyes tight. He didn't know how to deal with an angry Q; this was the first anger over her death that she'd ever shown. She'd always seemed so accepting of it, accepting of the fact that she'd given up her life for something else. But that was in death, not how she was in life, not the scared girl who wasn't ready to give up living but didn't have a choice.

His own eyes went over to the spot, staring at it thoughtfully. "No I had to go on living."

Her voice was loud, angry, frustrated. "You had a chance, a choice. I don't, I just die."

"It was hell, an existence soaked in pain and emptiness. I burned, all the time so acutely aware that I was alone that I wished I was dead, that I could find peace. I wished I'd died instead of you." His voice was soft, laced with the memories of the hell he'd burned in, the memories he couldn't escape.

"Do you know what he'll do to me, what he'll let them do? He'll torture me then heal me just enough that he can do it again, and then, once he gets tired of it he'll kill me." She was hysterical with the foreknowledge that burned in her from the possession, from her own memories she'd seen floating in Maria's unconscious.

She turned her tearstained face towards him, her voice soft, terrified and utterly broken. "I don't want to die."

"You're already dead." He said it softly. Then continued on in a stronger voice, "You can't change it, your life is in the past. All you can do is accept it, make the best out of what time you get. They say the best die young, because the Gods can't bear to part from them for too long."

She didn't seem comforted, but she seemed calmer, more accepting. But still she lamented starting off softly escalating into a scream at the Gods, "Why did it come to this? It's all my fault, I should have worked with Kivar, supported him but I didn't. Is it really worth it? Is it worth saving Antar's fate to lose my life? Gods, I hate sacrifice, was I destined to be merely a sacrificial lamb? Is that all I am to you? A tool, a lamb to kill at your convenience?"

"Your sacrifice wasn't just for Antar, it was for you too. For here, for Earth, for this life you're living now." It was Arhal again, melting out of an empty shadow.

Q abandoned her focus on Michael, throwing herself into Arhal's arms, sobbing there. "It's not my life, it's hers. Don't…don't let them kill me."

He stroked her hair, holding her close. He looked up meeting Michael's eyes for a long moment, deciding something. Slowly he turned back to her waiting upturned face, the girl like a little sister he'd never been able to deny anything. "I can give you a choice."

'A choice to change your fate, change the world as we know it, change their fates. A choice here and now because here I have power, here in this room, in this time, I can make a difference.' He didn't say it, but the weight of the offer hung heavy in the air anyway causing Michael's heart to clinch. She could erase Maria, take away his world for herself, and if she took Maria from him….he wasn't sure what he'd do but it wouldn't be pretty.

"What is it?" She sounded so eager, eager to escape an early death not realizing that death would catch her anyway.

Arhal looked infinitely sad, missing the amusement that always lurked in his gaze, missing the certain foreknowledge. That scared Michael most of all, the lack of knowing in his gaze, that for once he didn't know which way the cards would fall.

"You can let time stay as it is, Nkyot will still take you, you and Rath will still Granix, and you'll have Earth, freed from your duties to our Gods. Or it can be different, I can keep Nkyot from taking you but…"

He trailed off, staring intently at Michael. Sadness coursed in the gaze, understanding passing between them. He'd been offered the same choice at his marriage he'd taken it, choosing to pay the price not realizing it was her.

"Everything has a price." Michael said it softly, knowing that he was the price. His life, their life, she'd live but Rath would die.

He could practically see it echoing through time, through different dimensions in front of him. Rath would die stopping the kidnapping and she'd go on living, miserable and half crazy while Antar as they knew it collapsed. While Kivar took over without much opposition, where her voice was his main tool because she was too weak to resist his advances like she had, and she'd be used to brainwash the people again and again. She'd be alive, he'd be rotting, still not together and with no everlasting promise of another chance.

There'd be no Maria, probably no Michael, Max or Tess. Definitely no Isabel because Vilandra would be ruling there, part of Kivar's dynasty. But no Maria, and that's what hurt the most, the fact that she'd just die and not come back. That even if he ended up on Earth he'd be truly alone, no Maria to make it seem less horrible.

Q looked at him with Maria's face, a face that she might take away. "What's the price?"

He didn't say anything, he couldn't tell her. Couldn't make her chose his life over hers, couldn't take away that chance or that choice, because if the decision was made in guilt and not love it was worthless.

Arhal had no such qualms, "Rath."

Her face seized up, her hands going directly to clutch a necklace that wasn't there, that was hanging off Michael's neck. He could literally see her heart clenching, her devotion to who he was so strong that the thought of him not there was so terrifying to her was literally causing her to overload, to breakdown.

"No. No, I'll die, I'll go to hell or whatever, just….just don't hurt him, don't let anybody hurt him." She was begging Arhal now, begging for a reassurance that he couldn't give.

Michael turned away, hoping to hide the emotion that rocked there, Rath's or his he wasn't sure. Her blind, utter devotion, adoration was too much, too intense, for him, for knowing that someone had loved him that much that he was first. That he was always first for her, that it was too intense, the kind of bond that shouldn't have ever existed because it was too strong, binding two people so close that it could only hurt.

She clutched her head, the weakness and emotional highs trying to shut her down.

"I wish I could take the pain away for you, fix everything, be the one who suffers." He said softly, squatting down next to her and Arhal, hoping that she could see that his devotion was just as great. Q had never really known, except maybe in marriage, how much Rath really adored her. He'd vowed that this time, he wouldn't let that happen, that Maria would know even if he had to talk about his feelings or buy every damn flower in Roswell.

Tremors wracked her body as she leaned against Arhal. "Not for me, for Maria."

That was true, for Maria, not for Q. Q was just a part of Maria.. "Yeah."

Arhal looked at him, wiping the sweat from her face, she was going downhill fast. "That's not what she meant. She means that you can for Maria, take away the pain, but not her. She'll still die, but now, now I think she'll do it more willingly."

"I'm right here you know." Her voice was soft, the mirrors blending with green until it was impossible to separate the two. Her tones lacked their usual punch, not even her weak annoyance showing through the exhaustion.

"What do you mean? What do you mean I can take it for Maria?" He was anxious now, determined. If he could fix her, help her he wanted to know and he wanted to know now.

Arhal smiled wryly as if he knew whatever he was about to say wouldn't matter in the least to Michael's decision. "It'll hurt."

"I don't care. Just tell me how." His response was immediate, his pain didn't factor into this, just that he could end hers.

He stood, taking Maria's feverish form with him. He handed her to Michael like a small child, she burned in his arms the fever scorching her. "Take her and come over here."

Michael followed directions, taking her over to the glowing cone, positioning her back to it with her leaning against him weakly. Her cheek was on his chest her face inches away from Rath's old dog tags, his arm holding her body close to support her weight because her legs couldn't handle it.

Arhal looked at them for a moment, once again back to his infinitely amused state. "This is my gift to you. Now touch the cone, and hang on."

One weak arm snaked around his waist and the other coming up to his wrap around his neck. He looked down, hoping to catch her eyes one last time before he did this. But her eyes were squeezed shut, her breathing labored.

He kissed her forehead and reached out, placing his hand on the glowing cone.

The power rushed into him, scorching him, burning him alive from the inside out. It went through him, the pure energy coursing through his veins and out into her. He could feel it calming, soothing away the fever and fixing the rough edges in her mind.

Then the hysteria hit him, causing his arm to tighten painfully around her but that didn't matter. Everything was too much, too bright, too confusing, too loud and it filled his mind, stealing sanity and thoughts. A second after the hysteria came the time confusion, the intense unknowing of whether it was then, now or the future, of where he was in time, if he was on Antar or Earth.

His body tried to yank his hand away from the glowing cone, from the pain, but he rebelled, clutching it as best he could. All the same his hand started to slide downward as his legs started to give out with the fever weakness. He was burning worse now, her fever raging through his system, her intense weakness and uncontrollable shakes rocking his body as he clutched her.

And with it came the sudden loss of who he was, was he Michael or Rath? The memories, the lives swirling together in a tornado he couldn't stop, around and around, closer and closer until he couldn't tell what had happened where. Couldn't tell if he was a soldier or a cook, if it was Maria or Q who had died in his arms, couldn't distinguish who was still slightly insane and whose bitterness rocked his psyche, couldn't tell who the girl in his arms was.

He clutched her as tight as he could, hanging on for dear life as they slid lower because he couldn't hold them up any more. He wanted to scream, to cry, to curl up somewhere and hide, but he couldn't so he clung to her, to the soft blue healing touch that was in her. That was flowing out from him as he took the pain in return. As he traded his sanity for a million stabbing needles all over, for dizziness, for hysteria and craving, for depression because he couldn't understand. And he did it willingly, without regret or second thoughts, did all of this for her.

His legs gave out completely crumpling them to the ground, his bigger form crushing hers into the floor, but still he hung on. He hung on through the pain of being ripped away from his body, being thrown through time like a tennis ball. He hung on as things started to gray out in a blessed form of shut down.

His arm was ripped away, his palm freed from the glowing cone and immediately the power flow stopped, the intense burn of having pure energy flow through him.

Somebody rolled him over, off of her, but his other arm was still locked around her so she went with him. He stared up in a pain filled, burning confused state at the silver handprint on the glowing cone above him.

"Michael? Michael are you ok?" It was her voice, the important one's, scrabbling off of him to cradle his head in her lap.

"Over my dead body." His response was slurred, confused, lost in some memory that was playing out only for him.

Maria looked up at the stranger, at Arhal, panicked. He smiled, "He's just confused, it'll be ok."

She nodded, stroking Michael's hair religiously.

"How do you feel?" Arhal asked, eyeing her speculatively.

She looked up, "Better, more me. Stronger, like I can walk and everything."

He nodded thoughtfully, "I stopped him before he could take it all. I was afraid it would kill him, so you'll still have some side effects though drastically less than Q did."

"One galaxy burger, I got it." Michael declared with concentration, reaching up weakly for her hand. He took it, holding her hand against his cheek, then smiled at her loopily.

"All better?" he queried, looking at her intently, a piercing sanity that had been missing moments before.

Her eyes were all wet, "All better, Spaceboy."

Arhal looked at the two of them, then squatted down next to Michael. He placed his hand on his chest, "What sacrifice is given willingly, the Gods will mirror."

Maria's tones were sharp, thinking along different lines. "What does that mean?"

He smiled at her, "It means Michael suffered for you, took your pain willingly out of love. The Gods respect that, cherish it, and will do the same for him."

She beamed at him, "Well get crackin."

His face quirked at the odd earth expression but all the same, he closed his eyes in concentration, light flaring from the two joined forms. A second later he pulled away breathing hard, a much faster process than it had been with her.

Michael's eyes flew open, they were clear, salient and sane. He started to sit up but she held his shoulders down, "Lay still for a minute."

He obeyed, relaxing against her, "You ok?"

She stroked his hair off his forehead again, mirroring the conversation they'd just had. "All better, Spaceboy. How about you?"

"Tired, that was…."

"Scary." She filled in for him, knowing.

"Yeah," he replied sitting up slowly, with a hand to his head.

"You'll both need to rest." Arhal told them with a smile.

Michael nodded, standing up, pulling Maria up after him. He pulled her into a hug, inspecting her judiciously even though she'd said she was fine. Checking her over for injuries, glowing body parts, insanity and anything else he could think of.

"So we're done here?" Michael asked over her head.

Arhal laughed, "Still don't like to waste time I see. Some things never change. Yes, we're done."

Maria looked at the Oracle, "You were there…..when I was. When Rath got mad…."

He nodded, "Yes, and I even gave Michael your letter."

She beamed at him as Michael started to pull her out of the room. "You need to rest."

Arhal smiled, Michael was still the overprotective mother hen Rath had been. "Michael?"

He turned around at the entrance. "Yeah?"

"The price is paid."

Michael smirked, an odd sort of relieved grimace that wasn't quite a smile. "Thanks."

And then they were gone, leaving behind the Granolith to what it was, what it had been, what it will become.

….

The Sheriff looked at them, "Everything ok?"

Maria nodded, "All better. Michael fixed it."

Michael didn't say anything, it wasn't like it was anything amazing. Anyone would have done the same thing. "Whatever let's go, Maria is still supposed to rest."

"No, you're supposed to rest. You're the one who got all flame broiled in there." Maria argued as they made their way outside and down the cliff.

"Nobody was flame broiled, Maria." Michael said annoyed, but secretly overjoyed at being able to argue with her about nothing again. He missed it, annoying her, listening to her babble at him.

"Well whatever it was, it was all burny for you. Don't try and deny it, I could feel it before it got all nice and cool like ice cream for me."

The Sheriff looked back and forth between them at the bottom of the cliff, "Flame broiled and ice cream, you sound like Kyle. Which means your hungry, how bout we pick up some food?"

Michael nodded, getting in the backseat weakly, he was getting really tired. Maria gave him a concerned look before climbing in the backseat with him to fuss, "Food is good. Michael really likes the Chinese place, we could get some for everyone."

Pretty much when she said everyone she meant mainly for Michael because it's his favorite and he deserves his favorite because he's a hero and if you don't get Chinese she would yell at you. The Sheriff, from dating her mother, got the message loud and clear and decided that Chinese was just fine..

"Chinese it is, I'll call Amy and see what everyone wants."

Maria ignored him, forcing Michael to drink some water she'd had in her car, then solicitously feeling his forehead. "You can take a nap in my bed after we eat."

"Maria..." he started but she waved him away.

"No, heroes get the good bed. Your bed at your apartment doesn't look comfortable at all, besides if I get sleepy we can just share." She declared in final tones, knowing that the sharing part didn't sound all that bad to his ears.

"C'mere." Was all he said, encouraging her to scoot closer and into his arms as much as the seatbelts would allow. It wasn't a particularly comfortable position but it was a necessary one, they both needed it, needed the closeness. Craved the reassurance that at least at this point in time they were both ok, both alive and fairly well.

He leaned his chin on her head, feeling exhausted. That had taken a lot out of him and lowered the barriers between him and Rath. He wasn't sure they'd ever go back up totally again but at the moment he didn't care, letting himself get swept into the past where things had been different.

………………………

He stalked into the meeting angry and cold. He couldn't help it, he was so worked up over Q and how sick she was, but when Kivar suggested that he, Rath and Nkyot all get together for old times sake he hadn't been able to say no. They were all so different now, Kivar the least, but still he was getting more and more power hungry lately and Nkyot had undergone a total personality transplant. He was cruel, ruthless, mean and enjoyed other's pain to an extent that even Rath didn't approve of, killing should be just that killing, a job nothing more, not something to be enjoyed or reveled in. Maybe he'd changed, would he have said that a year and a half ago? Probably not, he'd have thought it but he wouldn't have cared if other people enjoyed it but somewhere along the line he'd changed, he'd started to see the world differently. Q had come and things weren't black and white anymore, there were shades of gray mixed in, feelings and colors.

Still maybe this would take his mind off of her, at least he hoped so. Besides, he had certain subjects that needed to be brought up with Nkyot now that he was back on the planet, certain subjects he hadn't forgotten or overlooked.

Kivar looked up, grasping his forearm with the ease of years of friendship. "You're late, like usual."

Rath shrugged, he was always late. He'd earned the right to be late. "What'cha gonna do about it?"

Kivar laughed, this conversation was practically a ritual. "Kick your ass."

Rath sat down, "Like to see you try."

"Maybe later, like around 7?"

"Sounds good." Rath replied, and that was how their greetings went. Kivar would comment on Rath's lateness or vice versa, a challenge would get issued and a sparring match would be set up for the 'fight'. This was good, familiar, he needed this. Needed the spar to help take out his anger, release some of these feelings he was just starting to get used to and Kivar was a good match for him.

"You two done making dates?" Nkyot asked appearing in the doorway. Rath knew part of him always resented them for the sparring matches. For keeping them going all these years even after training and for never inviting him. Rath didn't really care; Kivar was the first person he'd fought in training, right after their purification, when they were intensely weak from the blood loss. It had been the only draw of the group and the longest fight. Somewhere in that blur of a fight they'd become friends, formed a bond as they tried to keep from passing out, and their masters had recognized that pairing them together for training. And here they were 13 cycles later still fighting, still drawing; there was no room for a third who wasn't as good, for Nkyot who couldn't hold his own against them.

Kivar grasped his forearm, "You know it."

Nkyot looked at Rath, but Rath didn't bother to extend his arm. They weren't really friends anymore and he didn't trust him, so he wouldn't do that simple gesture that implied trust.

He got the icy snub loud and clear, taking his seat around the table without so much as an eye bat. Kivar glanced back and forth between them, holding Rath's eyes for a second, he wasn't really surprised but he was curious. Rath held his gaze, silently telling him that he'd find out soon enough.

Someone brought their food over, preordered by Kivar and they started to eat. When they'd first started these get togethers they'd tried to keep away from business, but soon found that was impossible, they all worked together and had it in common.

"I saw T'ron's mom the other day, she's still bawling her eyes out." Kivar said idly.

Rath nodded he'd met the wailing woman, "She came to see me."

"What'd you tell her?" Kivar queried as he shoved food in his mouth.

"The usual. That we'll find who killed him and make him pay. T'ron was one of my seconds and I intend on finding out whom and why he got murdered."

"What do you know so far?" Nkyot asked casually, but Rath could see the intense underlying interest behind the question.

Rath took his time, cutting his food before glancing up directly at Nkyot. "The killer was a coward. Killer used his left hand, took him down from behind originally. Deru powder was used to get rid of T'ron's powers. He knew his attacker, no sign of forced entry or surprise. It was an inside job, one of ours."

What bothered him about this was that it was an inside job and T'ron was one of his seconds. That could be the first sign of a power shakeup, a coup for his job, either way he didn't like his men unloyal or killing each other.

He paused, letting it sink in then giving the same nasty smile he used to give he spoke again. "Once I find out who it was, it will be very unpleasant."

There was a beat of silence, Nkyot didn't move or betray any thing, he'd gotten good at hiding his feelings and thoughts. But then he'd learned from the best, learned by observing the man sitting across from him, learned his coldness from Rath and his charm from Kivar.

"So, we're looking for a lefty." Kivar stated, looking thoughtful. He'd always liked T'ron, they sparred on occasion. Where Rath had hated the other guy during their training he and Kivar had possessed an odd form of friendship.

Rath shrugged, "Probably not. Possibly someone who's had a hurt left hand, or the murderer wanted to throw us on the wrong track. Besides, if it was an Elite it wouldn't matter, we're all trained to be ambidextrous."

Kivar nodded, "We're trained but they can't completely eradicate our inborn preferences. You yourself still favor your left, though Nkyot and I go in for our right."

Rath shrugged, what he said was true. He preferred is left, not necessarily because it was an inborn trait, but because it gave you an advantage. People aren't used to fighting people with a left hand; the different angles throw them off.

"Why do you think he got the axe?" Nkyot again, fishing.

Rath eyed him speculatively. "My guess? A grudge that's been festering, or a power shakeup. T'ron was loyal and I depended on him for a lot, he might have gotten it to throw me off."

Kivar glanced up, "Gotta love your arrogance, man. It's a possibility, but mate, it ain't always about you."

"So what do you think?" Rath challenged, partly because he wasn't half as self centered as everyone said and partly because he actually wanted to know. Kivar had a good head on his shoulders, usually catching things others missed.

"I'd go with the personal grudge. T'ron pissed a lot of people off, doing a lot of things. He wasn't exactly kind or fair to those underneath him, all of his Trinol's hated him." Kivar's voice was speculative, probably considering how he stood with his own men.

He shrugged, "Either way I'll keep my eyes open, I'm one of your Seconds and have no desire to get the axe."

They fell into silence after that, each man lost to his own thoughts or concentrating on his eating. Rath had a lot to think about, Q's sickness, T'ron's murder, the rebellion whose leader he still couldn't identify plus protecting Antar.

A group of healers, in their traditional blue garbs went rushing by, obviously in a hurry to get somewhere. Rath's thoughts immediately went to Q, but they were going in the wrong direction from her.

Apparently he wasn't the only one who thought of her, "How's that chick?"

Rath glanced up, steely eyed. He knew exactly who he was talking about but didn't like her referred to that way. "What chick?"

Nkyot smiled as if it was funny, "That little blessed thing that went insane. Isn't she staying in your wing?"

Kivar cut in, eyeing Rath, with a bit more tact. "Yeah, how is Qaelia. I sent her some flowers but have no idea if she got them."

Rath replied to Kivar, managing at least courtesy. Kivar had been there the day the Gods took her, sitting in full council with them, he at least deserved an answer. He couldn't quite bring himself to reply to Nkyot just yet, not until he had a bit more control.

"She got them, though I had to confiscate the reading material you sent with them."

Kivar laughed, it had been pretty indecent stuff. "That was for you anyway. I figured you'd need something to read if she was sleeping or whatever."

Rath shifted in his seat slightly, he didn't like the idea of everyone knowing he spent a lot of time visiting her, people might start asking questions. "Thanks. Being alone at night terrifies her for some reason."

His eyes flicked over to Nkyot, they had some very unfinished business. "Any idea why?"

Nkyot held his gaze, hearing the idle threat. "Maybe she's afraid of the dark."

"Or what lurks there." Rath stated, setting down his utensils. This was about to get ugly.

"I've seen the bruises." He said calmly, letting Ozma's cool, icy touch rush in him, filling him with the control he needed.

Nkyot leaned back in his chair, mocking and implying. "That's interesting because I made sure they were all covered by her clothes."

Fury flooded him at the implication, but not enough to break the ice. "Lonnie had to help her change and informed me of her condition."

Nkyot smiled easily, insinuating another type of implication. "Good ole Vilandra, always helping people out of their clothes."

Rath ignored that; he could care less who Lonnie was sleeping with. "So tell me why."

Nkyot shrugged casually, though Rath caught the tensing muscles. He grinned again, the not quite sane part showing through, back to taunting and implying a million possibilities Rath didn't want to think about. "She said no."

That was it; before he even knew what he was doing he'd launched himself over the table and onto the other man in a fit of fury. He took him out of his chair and onto the ground, pinning him there, in one smooth swift motion.

"Why? No games." It was a guttural snarl, one out of instinct, out of fury. It was from the ruthless, the dark part of him that raged just under the surface, that he'd tried to suppress.

"Look in the mirror." Nkyot responded, seemingly unfazed by being pinned to the ground.

Rath slammed his head into the hard tile. "Why?'

He laughed an odd gurgle. "Because she doesn't deserve to be alive, she won't use her talents to help anyone. She needed to be put in her place, reminded that she's completely worthless, helpless.-"

"You want to see worthless?" It was another snarl, another bit of fury escaping his control; he slammed his head onto the ground again. She wasn't worthless…

Kivar put a hand on his back, trying to prevent what he was about to do. "He's in my command, I'll punish him…"

Rath ignored him, "You want to see helpless?"

Nkyot didn't respond, but there was fear in his eyes now. Rath smiled, it was cruel, but an eye for an eye.

He snapped his neck to one side, breaking it. Not a killing blow, but a paralyzing one, one that would leave him helpless until he could heal himself.

"How's it feel to be put in your place?" Rath asked, ripping Nkyot's rank from his uniform as he stood and stretched, that had felt good. Better than it should have, but he'd deserved it.

He glanced down at the helpless, humiliated form beneath him. "If you touch her again I'll kill you, I'll send your soul to rot in the abyss."

Kivar squatted down to heal him.

"Leave him." Rath commanded his Second. Then he glanced around at all the people staring.

"That goes for all of you too. If I find out any of you helped him there will be hell to pay."

Kivar left him, slowly straightening up, still looking at their friend lying helpless on the floor. "I said I would punish him."

Rath glanced over, "And you still will."

Kivar looked at him disgusted, "After that?"

Rath turned to fully face him, ice in his face, daggers in his voice. "It's an order."

Kivar swallowed whatever he was about to say and nodded.

Rath took several steps away before Kivar stopped him with his voice. "She's affecting your judgment."

He spun back Kivar, disgust dripping from every word. "He invaded her dreams, her mind and he did it to cause pain, to beat her. And he enjoyed it. Are you saying he didn't get what he deserved?"

Kivar was silent, "I didn't know."

Rath glared at him, then shoved Nkyot's rank back at him. "Don't lie to me. Find yourself a new Trinol."

He walked off furious, leaving behind his best friend humiliated and humbled and his other close friend a broken helpless, rankless heap.

He stormed to his wing, down the hall still letting the fury run him. How could Kivar side with Nkyot over him, especially on this of all things? That was unacceptable, this was horrible, unprecedented. Where were the ties he'd relied on for so long, when had Nkyot replaced him?

He looked at the door next to his, Q's door. He wanted Kivar's flowers out of her room, he thought Nkyot had been in the right to hurt her, had merely been exercising his rights as a man.

He opened the door, ready to rip those flowers out of their vase and stopped at what he saw.

She was sprawled on her stomach on the floor in the middle of the room. He rushed in, squatting down next to her, reaching for her pulse. But there was no need, she was awake.

"What happened?" He asked anxiously as he started checking her for injuries and the room for invasion.

"I tried to go see Michael but I fell…" she replied woozily, those green cracks he'd come to hate showing through the mirrors of her eyes.

He sighed, picking her up and walking back to the bed. "You're not supposed to get out of bed, you're too weak, Q."

Her eyes focused on him, narrowing in recognition. "Michael?"

He set her down on the bed, untwisting her silky red nightgown from her legs as something to do. It was one he hadn't seen before, probably something Arhal had just given her.

"No." He replied, hating whoever Michael was with a burning, jealous passion. But he also hated the disappointment he knew he would cover her features like a mask.

The disappointment swooshed in, screening her features into something that looked on the verge of hysterical tears. "Oh, Rath?"

"That's me." He told her bitterly as he pushed her back into the pillows. He hated the part that would come next, and he was so angry already he wasn't sure if he could handle it.

She peered up at him, the green cracks widening. She sounded polite, as if he was a stranger. "Can you get Michael for me, please?"

Something in him just snapped, he'd just alienated his two friends for her and she wanted someone else.

"No. Ok, I'm not going to get 'Michael' I don't know who the frack he is, and I don't care. I hate him; I hate how you want him instead of me. I'm here. I'm the one who's taking care of you, I'm the one who's been with you, I'm the one who cares." His voice was intense, all the things, the disappointments, he'd been hiding from her pouring out in one angry tirade.

"Michael cares." Her voice was soft, a touch defensive.

"No he doesn't. Because if he did, he'd be here." It was an angry snap back at her, even now, even after he'd laid his feelings on the table it was still all about Michael.

Her eyes darkened and he could have sworn something wet rolled down her cheek. "He loves me."

Rath bit the inside of his cheek, that hurt. By the Gods that hurt to hear her say, that she knew this Michael person loved her but he had no idea if she realized he did too.

She paused, looking away from him. "And I love him."

He grabbed the end of the bed for support, letting his head drop down to his chest. He wanted to break something, anything, to curl up somewhere and sob. This could not be happening, not now, not after they'd been through so much.

"Maria, stop it." It was Arhal, melting through a wall, scolding the girl in the bed.

She glared at him, "I want Michael, you said I could have him, so where is he?"

That was it, this was over. He could not handle this, couldn't handle her asking for someone else even if she was confused. He stormed away, grabbing their narka plant.

It was so stupid anyway, having an idiotic plant. Well it was over, so they didn't need the thing anymore and he was going to get rid of it.

He held it up in the air, wanting to get as much leverage as he could, ready to smash it to bits.

"Rath stop!" It was Arhal, screaming and racing across the room.

"Give me the plant." He urged, holding out his arms.

"Why the fack should I? It's over and I want it all done." He was upset, a bit past sane.

Arhal tried to make him lower the plant, "I know it hurts, but it's not really Q. She doesn't mean the things she's saying."

"Well then she should keep her mouth shut." It was an angry retort, he couldn't just take away whatever she said by saying it wasn't her.

Arhal looked over at the bed, at the girl who was watching them intently. "She can't help it, she's confused about everything. If you have to be angry at someone, be angry at the Gods."

"It's not my problem anymore. I'm finishing it. She's not who I…who I... who I fell…..She's not who she was anymore. She just wants Michael." He couldn't even say the words, it was hard enough normally, but now? Now with her betrayal, her love of someone else, they wouldn't come, they scorched him too much to even think.

Arhal stared at him, "What did she say exactly?"

Rath turned away clutching the plant he wanted to kill, he couldn't repeat it.

Her voice was soft, a lilt of a rainbow on a gray sky morning. "I said I loved Michael. I didn't say I didn't love you."

He didn't turn around, he was breathing hard. Even hearing it again was like stabbing himself in the hand over and over, even with the little part about loving him.

"Part of me loves Michael but part of me, the big part loves you…." Her voice was confused as if she didn't really understand it herself.

He spun around screaming at her, "You can't love two people."

"I can't help it. Maybe I'm two people." She screamed back at him.

"Well I can't accept that." He screamed back.

He raised the plant in the air, ready to crush it to bits. "I'm all or nothing."

She was trembling, silent and trembling, no refusals or denials of her feelings. He threw the plant downward as hard as he could.

She started screaming but nothing happened, except the plant stilled about a foot from the ground, floating there in an invisible barrier or some sort.

Arhal grabbed it with relief. "I'm taking this for a bit so you two don't ruin it."

Rath ignored him, looking at the girl on the bed. "I won't be second choice."

She stared back, the green blazing. "Neither will I. I'm not who you want."

Arhal stepped between them, "Everyone calm down. She loves you, she told you that, and she's hurt. You're going to have to accept that she's sick and will get confused, and will have pain. Deal with it because if you don't you'll lose her completely. And you, you keep your mouth shut. Once you realize where you are, deal with it because hurting him isn't going to make you feel any better."

Rath rubbed his face, this was horrible; a nightmare he couldn't escape. Instead of focusing on how bad he felt he focused on what Arhal had said or part of it. "What's this part about her having pain, isn't she getting drugs for that?"

Arhal looked at him, realizing the crisis had passed for the moment. "They don't have drugs for what she's got."

Rath looked speculative; it was time for some sort of peace offering since he'd made her bawl. He was the one here with issues, she was sick. He looked over at her, at the tremors racing through her. "Can I heal it, or transfer it somehow to me?"

Arhal looked sad, "Not this time, no."

"Why not?" It was a snap, a challenge. He walked over to the bed determined, Gods forbidding or not he would fix this, fix them.

He sat down roughly, tilting her face up so he could look into her eyes. She trembled against his touch, but her eyes were mirrored again, the green having faded away somewhere.

He tried for the connection, the one he could have sworn he'd felt there before, used before to heal her against her will, but it wasn't there. It wouldn't come and she blocking him out.

"Let me in."

She shook her head against his hand, her eyes sad. "No, it's not ours to take."

He didn't care if it was theirs or not, he could fix this, he knew it. He could save her. "Just let me in, I can fix you."

"I'm not a broken toy, that you can just fix. I've made my choice, accepted what will come. And with that comes this…" she gestured around them, to her sick bed, to her life, to the shakes, to the moments it wasn't her.

"Well, I haven't accepted anything. Maybe you have but you aren't being fair to me in this, it hurts me too." He argued, hoping using his own pain would change her mind like it usually did. She was a complete pushover if you knew how to work her.

But this time she didn't budge, just touched the side of his face. "I know and I'm sorry."

He pulled away from her, angry. Sorry didn't help anyone, just meant that you were going to watch them hurt and do nothing about it. She reached out for him again, "Don't be angry with me."

"Why shouldn't I be? You're not letting me fix it and I don't understand why." He said, getting up and moving out of her reach.

Arhal sat down on the bed next to her, rubbing her back idly. "You don't have to understand."

"I hate this." It was close to an explosion, he was so sick of all of this.

Arhal whispered something in her ear that Rath couldn't catch and she nodded. He didn't care, "Whatever I have to go, I've got a meeting with Zan."

He turned to go, Arhal's voice stopping him. "Can you get Q something to drink first?"

It wasn't an option, more of a command that even he was compelled to obey. He walked off into the smaller sitting room, opening the cooling receptacle he'd had put there and grabbed her favorite drink. Stalking back into the room he went over to the bed, shoving the chilly beverage at Arhal.

He took it and Rath turned to go stopped only by her voice. "Rath?"

He turned back around, not wanting too but turning all the same. She slipped something small into his hand, discreetly with a shy, slightly nervous smile. "Bye."

He nodded slightly confused but realizing she didn't want it read in her presence. He slipped into the hallway, leaning against the wall.

Arhal stood, handing her the drink motioning for Rath to follow him into the front room. He did.

Once they were alone it came rushing out. "Who the hell is Michael?"

Arhal sighed, "I figured you'd ask that again. He's you in a way, a long time from now. When she's asking for him you have to understand it's not Q, it's not your girl."

"Then who is she, why is she like this?" It came out more anguished than he'd intended it too, more honest.

Arhal looked at him intently, "Time confusion. When the Gods took her Q's mind had to go somewhere else, and part of where she went came back with her."

Rath nodded, he didn't really have any idea of what Arhal was talking about but it sounded dangerous to him. "So does that mean part of her is still wherever she went?"

Arhal sighed, "At times, whenever she's looking at you asking for Michael somewhere else Q is looking at someone and asking for you."

Rath nodded, that made everything a bit better. Then he left, slipping out into the hallway where he could see whatever she gave him in privacy.

He inspected what she'd handed him, it was just a small, neatly folded piece of paper with his name on it in her flowing handwriting. Curious he opened it up reading the contents slowly.

"Rath,

I'm sorry, I'm sorry for all of this, all the hurt. But it has to be this way and I want you to see that. I want you to know that no matter what I say, whatever words come out of my mouth, that I love you. That you're the only one for me always, now and then, I want you to know that the ties we form are forever unbroken."

She didn't sign it but she didn't need to. Slowly he folded the note back up into the perfect square it had been. He almost grimaced looking at it, she'd written him something because she knew he hated the emotional talks, knew he hated how gushy it could get and because it was hard to say those words to someone's face. She wrote him something he could hold onto, a physical reminder that he could keep when it seemed like all hope was gone.

He smiled slightly, undoing his shirt enough that he could put the note in the hidden pocket above his heart, in a way replacing the dog tags he'd given her. She wore his dog tags around her neck, a sign of his devotions, he wore a note that meant the same thing, a reassurance.

………………………

She watched him through the window, hiding under the cover of darkness. All of the others framed him as he devoured his Chinese food. By the Gods, she loved him, worshipped him, but even she knew that it was too late for him to ever love her back. She knew it and part of her even accepted it, but it didn't make the truth hurt any less, didn't make her hate the girl he did love any less and it didn't make her heart beat for him any less. One sided love is a painful thing, not even a true love just a form of obsession, and she was trapped in it.

But he hated her, he wanted her dead and she knew it. She loved him and he would kill her for it, for wanting to help him, to free him. Even now she couldn't stay away, even with his death warrant stamped on her soul she couldn't stop watching him, loving him. And though he could never love her back, or even like her she still wanted to please him so drastically, wanted to die for him.

And maybe she could show the greatest devotion of all for him, helping him live his life and be happy, she could let him walk away and fight his enemies for him, die for him.

Her thoughts drifted away as she heard him through the glass, and she turned her attention to the group inside.

"Sugar. Now." Michael demanded, holding out his hand for the sugar container which Kyle promptly put in his hand. He poured the sugar liberally over his extra spicy chicken with black bean sauce.

"That's so gross. I swear you guys have the most disgusting eating habits…" Kyle announced looking at Michael's actions in disgust.

"It's not gross Kyle." Tess, formerly of Tav, snapped annoyed with him.

"Oh it's totally gross. Can I get some human back up on this, guys? Liz? Alex? Maria…I know you think that's nasty." He looked around the room for support but found none forthcoming under the aliens stares.

He rolled his eyes at their cowardice before starting to shovel food in his mouth, "Cowards."

"I'm gonna go wash this up, anyone need anything from the kitchen?" She asked standing up, her long curls swishing around her.

"You done?" Michael asked, the challenge in his voice, as he eyed the barely picked over Chinese food.

"Yeah. You want it?"

He shook his head, setting down his fork and pulling on her shirt. "You're not done, you are still eating."

"But..-" she started to whine, no idea how lucky she was that he cared to notice how much she ate.

"No buts, missy. Two bites of Chinese food don't count as dinner. If you don't want that I'll make you something else." It was Tess, her light tones mothering.

Kyle nodded seriously, "And she can cook. Believe me, I totally fake being sick and helpless so she'll make me food."

There was a long pause as everyone just stared at him. The watcher didn't think he was particularly bright, or particularly important.

The small blonde ignored the boy's comment, obviously used to such occurrences. "So how about it?"

Maria shook her head, sitting back down on the couch she'd been sharing with Michael. "No thanks."

She idly began to pick at her food again, merely moving the food across the plate and rearranging it. Through the window she watched Michael watching her, and it hurt. It hurt that even her eating habits enraptured his attentions.

Liz looked up, wiping her mouth daintily. "So what are we doing about notes for school tomorrow, we all obviously missed. I definitely can't tell my parents I skipped…"

Alex grinned, "I was all over it."

"What?" Max asked, wondering if he had a bunch of doctor's notes.

Alex shrugged modestly, "I already took care of it. I added our names to a debate group fieldtrip that morning just in case we had to miss since you 4 obviously weren't going to show…" he gestured to Michael, Maria, Tess and Kyle.

Kyle perked up, "So you hacked?"

"Yeah so we all went on a debate trip, that's your story." Alex replied reaching for more rice.

"That's so wicked. Man I wish I could be a hacker, but alas I'm just too muscular and good looking." Kyle continued on.

"I resent that. And I'll have you know I can still take you off that list…" Alex threatened with his chopsticks.

But the watcher was more focused on the softer conversation happening between Michael and Maria.

"You need to eat." It was Michael's quiet voice, urging.

"I'm not hungry." She sounded tired and listless.

He heard it too, reaching out to feel her forehead. His expression didn't change but he wasn't happy with whatever result he felt. "How are you feeling?"

She shrugged, causing his eyes to narrow. "Maria, you have to eat to get better. Let's see what's in your kitchen, there's got to be something more appetizing than Chinese to you…"

He stood taking her with him.

"Where are you two going?" Max's voice had a slight edge to it, laced with a touch of worry.

"Maria doesn't want Chinese so we're gonna raid the kitchen and see what else there is." Michael replied.

Maria abruptly sat back down, with a glance at the window, in the watcher's direction. She pulled on Michael's arm listlessly until he dropped back into his seat.

"What's wrong?" His voice was calm, but not completely covering the anxiety that lurked underneath.

"Just dizzy." She replied softly curling herself into his shoulder.

Tess stood up, "Ok, I'll make you something. I may not be a short order cook but I make a mean omelet."

Michael glanced up, "Eggs and cheese, some toast and some of that melon stuff in the fridge. Do you want tea?"

Maria nodded against his chest. "And some hot tea."

Tess nodded, going into the kitchen to work her magic. Kyle's eyes followed her, "I want some eggs and cheese too!"

"Maria, are you ok?" Isabel asked, concerned.

"Yeah, I mean I thought once Michael did that freaky alien body transfer thing you were supposed to be good as new. So what's the sitch?" Kyle added helpfully.

"I'm just tired. Arhal said that I'll still be sick, just nowhere near as bad as I was last time."

"You should go to bed after you eat. It's been a long day and you'll feel better in the morning" Liz said.

Alex set down his plate, "So who is this Arhal guy exactly and is he playing for our team?"

"He's the Oracle on Antar. One of the Chosen like Q was, he pretty much knows everything that can happen or will happen, he and Q were close. And yes he's definitely on our side, he's the one who let me fix her." Michael replied.

"So you're saying he's an alien." Kyle clarified.

Max looked over, "With a name like Arhal did you really think he was human?"

Kyle thought about it for a second, "I'm Buddhist, all of our guys have weird names."

Liz ignored him, "Are you staying here tonight Michael?"

He looked down at Maria curled against his arm. "Yeah."

Liz smiled, "Good."

"When's the last time you actually stayed at your apartment, out of curiosity?" Alex queried.

Michael shrugged, "Who knows?"

"Michael?"

He glanced down, his gaze softening and intensifying just the tiniest bit. "Yeah?"

"Can you do my math homework for me?" It obviously wasn't the question he was expecting, not even on the map.

Looking through the window she was outraged, this girl let him do everything for her. Let him take away all her pain and discomfort and now…now she wanted him to do her math homework? This was an outrage, she didn't deserve someone like him.

Liz, little miss uptight waitress was also upset. "Maria!"

"I don't understand it and Michael does." Was the annoyed reply she gave.

Liz sighed, "If he does it you'll never understand it. I'll go over it with you…"

"Oh give her a break, Liz. The girl was possessed by an alien then went freaky fever comatose girl for a few hours. Relax…" It was Kyle cutting in.

Max, the boy who once was King, felt the need to add his two cents in as well much to the observer's outrage. This was Michael's decision nobody else's. "As much as I hate to admit that Kyle has a point, I don't think we really need to be worrying about math homework versus cheating right now. So don't worry about it Maria, we'll get your math settled."

It seemed that had settled it with everyone except Michael. "You aren't going to school tomorrow, anyway."

Tess walked back in cutting off all replies, she put a tray of food in front of Maria, stocked with all the things ordered by doctor Michael.

She watched from outside the window as Michael forced her to sit up and start eating. And she hated it, hated how devoted he was to her, how he was almost gentle. Rath and Michael weren't gentle, and to see them that way, made into something they weren't was wrong. To see how different he was with Maria was painful because it just served to highlight how he didn't treat her that way, how he treated her like everyone else, rough and rude. It made her hurt, made her see the possibilities of what he could have been like with her. It was just another painful reminder that though he'd kissed her twice he didn't care, he didn't have a big emotional attachment to her.

His eyes snapped over to the window as if he could sense her gaze, but she knew he couldn't see her, she was too well hidden. All the same it was time to go, it was only so long before he'd come out to investigate..

She would hide from him, stick to the shadows and watch, and she would help him. She would fight for him against her own people because it was his birthright to lead, her planet's only hope and her heart's greatest desire.

So with one last, longing look Courtney slipped away. Because sometimes to really love you've got to be willing to die.


	30. timeline

Collision Flashback Chronological Order

AN: I've listed them by time, what part, what flash in that part, the point of view, the subject and the starting line of the flash, for easy reference.

**Pre Royal Four meeting Q.**

Part 7(B): Flash 2 (_Vilandra pov_) Vilandra with her mother as a child.

"It felt as though her brain was in the middle of a fireworks display"

Part 8(A): Flash 1 (_Rath pov_) Different scenes from Rath's training, severance ritual.

"He was standing on a plane with others his age with his k'sharnka blade hanging down at his side"

Part 20: Flash 2 (_Nkyot pov_) Rath, Nkyot and Kivar, after training. Vilandra convinces First Order to engage her to Rath.

"They were all sititng around, cleaning weapons in one of the tents on the tournament field"

Part 18: Flash 1 (_Vilandra pov_) Adulation festival, Vilandra and Kivar meet, Rath sees Q for the first time.

"She was standing in the crowd at the yearly Adulation Festival and she was utterly alone"

**Rath and Q meet.**

Part 2: Flash 2 (_Rath pov_) Rath and Q meet officially for the first time

"She was in the middle of a battlefield singing laments for the fallen."

Part 6: Flash 1 (_Q pov)_ The night Rath had kidnapped Q. First friendly moment.

"She was sitting in a tree gaily kicking her legs back and forth watching the moons rise"

Part 7(B) Flash 1 (_Rath pov_) Rath and Q locked in the Granolith, their first kiss.

"He was inside a smoothly metallic room with a triangular cylinder in the center"

Part 22: Flash 1 (_Rath pov_) Rath humiliates Nkyot, terrorizes Q.

"He shifted slightly in the new uniform, feeling the unfamiliar weight of the Commander's insignia on his shoulders"

Part 4: Flash 1 (_Rath pov_) Q brings her divine message, undoing destiny.

"They were in a meeting with the council of advisors"

Part 5: Flash 1 (_Zan pov_) Zan decides to ignore the divine message.

"What do we do, Sire?"

Part 2: Flash 3 (_Q pov_) Rath goes to Q at night, starting their affair.

"You shouldn't be here, Rath."

Part 15: Flash 2 (_Q pov_) Q waits for Rath to come move her to the palace.

"She was ready to go everything was packed up in neat little boxes and bags"

Part 11: Flash 1 (_Rath pov_) Q surprises Rath, he almost kills her. Their second kiss.

"He was sitting in the Granolith, exhausted and emotionally empty from the battle"

Part 10: Flash 2 (_Q pov_) Fonbar bothers Q, Rath intervenes. Rath reminds Q his armor is black.

"It was her first party of state since being relocated into the palace at King Zan's command"

Part 16: Flash 1 (_Rath pov_) Q gets drunk, tells Rath she loves him for the first time.

"He was at a gathering, not a large amount of people but large enough that Rath wished he could leave"

Part 12: Flash 2 (_Zan pov_) Rath asks Zan's permission to Granix, Zan denies him.

"They were sitting on the training room floor after a long bout of sparring"

Part 11(B): Flash 2 (_Rath pov_) Rath gives Q the narka plant, she breaks up with him.

"Rath walked in the Granolith self consciously, holding the foliage Zan had suggested he bring."

Part 11(B): Flash 3 (_Q pov_) Q while waiting for her narka plant to bloom.

"The room was dark, it had been for days now."

Part 12: Flash 1 (_Fonbar pov_) Fonbar watches Rath and Q reunite after a month apart, realizes they are having an affair.

"It was unnervingly real, the kind of realness that only came from a memory."

Part 10: Flash 1: (_Vilandra pov_) Vilandra and Nkyot talk, he tells her that destiny was voided, beginning of her turning away from Zan and Rath.

"Vilandra was standing on a balcony, wind whipping around her watching the sunrise"

Part 16: Flash 2 (_Q pov_) Q and Rath get attacked in the woods. Rath almost dies.

"She was running through the woods desperately upset"

Part 16: Flash 3 (Q pov) Set right after the attack in the woods. Q and Tav talk, then Rath gives Q his dog tags.

"She was sitting in her sitting room when she heard a knock at the door."

Part 8(C): Flash 2: (_Vilandra pov_) Vilandra tells Kivar about Rath and Q, he warns her about betrayal.

"It was dark, the darkest part of the night."

Part 16: Flash 4 (_Vilandra pov_) Vilandra and Rath see the Granal slap Q, power play between the Royals and Granolith.

"She was putting the final touches on her appearance"

Part 24: Flash 2 (_Q pov_) Kivar tries to convince Q to help him.

"Q shut the door to her rooms with a snap, she was so tired."

Part 17: Flash 1 (_Tav pov_) Q and Rath get taken away for the Purification ritual.

"Tav was kneeling at the edge of the altar to the Gods for her morning devotions."

Part 18: Flash 1 (_Tav pov_) Tav stops the Purification ritual.

"She was a Queen and had all of the power that went with it"

Part 21.5: Flash 1 (_Q pov_) Q slits her wrist to make Rath stop.

""Rath, what's this?" She asked, idly picking up the contraption in front of her"

Part 21: Flash 1 (_Vilandra pov_) A week before the possession. Q finds out other Chosen can Granix, she and Rath fight, he takes away the dog tags. It comes out that Nkyot has been hurting Q.

"Vilandra walked into the ship's stateroom looking for some peace and quiet"

**The Possession, Q goes into a coma.**

Part 13: Flash 2 (_Rath pov_) Q gets possessed, goes into a coma and wakes up asking for Michael.

"They were in a council meeting"

Part 20: Flash 1 Set between the coma and Q's waking (_Rath pov_) Rath visits Q, talks to Arhal. Arhal undoes the beginning of the Granix bond between Rath and Q.

"He couldn't sleep, couldn't close his eyes because all he saw was her burning form falling slowly to the floor"

Part 13: Flash 5 (_Zan pov_) Zan tries to comfort Rath, they fight over Vilandra.

"He stopped pacing for a second to look at the other inhabitant of the King's study."

Part 13: Flash 1 (_Q pov_) Vilandra tells Q that Rath cheated on her.

"_You make each other miserable'_ it echoed through her"

Part 13: Flash 3 (_Tav pov_) Rath and Tav talk, Rath gives Q a kitten. They reconcile.

"She and Rath were walking down a hallway and she was carrying a small, warm furry bundle"

Part 23: Flash 1 (_Rath pov_) Rath, Kivar and Nkyot meet. Rath punishes Nkyot for hurting Q. Rath and Maria (as Q) have a huge fight, Arhal intervenes.

" He stalked into the meeting angry and cold."

Part 25: Flash 1 (_Rath pov_) The Calling.

"How's Tav doing?" He asked, glancing over at Zan as they walked.

Part 15: Flash 1 (_Rath pov_) Rath shows Q earth, she tells him to let Max go when Liz gets shot.

"He was in his bedchamber, staring at his replica of Earth."

Part 18: Flash 2 (_Zan pov_) Zan walks in on Rath and Q, Rath and Zan argue. Q asks Zan to watch over Rath when she's gone.

"Zan was strolling through the palace gardens with his wife at dusk"

Part 13 Flash 4 (_Vilandra pov_) Vilandra tricks Rath, letting Nkyot kidnap Q.

"She was sitting in her private sitting room waiting for him to arrive"

Part 9: Flash 1 (_Q pov_) Q is in the dungeon, Nkyot tells her she's going to die.

"She wasn't on her bed struggling against Victor with a fill moon shining through the window anymore"

Part 14: Flash 1 (_Rath pov_) Rath and Q's wedding and Granix ceremony.

"He carried her into the cave, their d'rahi"

Part 24: Flash 1 (_Q pov_) Part of Rath and Q's marriage, she tries to change his future. Leads/ overrides the following flash.

"Q was entirely positive that this was one of the highlights of her young, quickly ending life."

Part 2: Flash 1 (_Rath pov_) Q collapses, right before her death.

"She was beautiful, in an unearthly, gossamer way"

**Q dies, Rath shatters.**

Part 10: Flash 3 (_Zan pov_) Set directly after Q's death, Zan tries to get Rath to let go of Q's body. Q ascends and Rath goes insane.

"The guards had come running into the throne room."

Part 17: Flash 2 (_Tav pov_) Tav and Zan go visit Rath, he's shattered but Tav gives him something to live for.

"She looked over at Zan as they walked down the hallway"


	31. Chapter 24

**AN: Ok ya'll, this part is a bit shorter than they have been but I wanted to get it out since we're getting rain from Ernesto and all that jazz. As always I absolutely adored and chersished the reviews, they seriously make my day all the time! Anyway this part is very Michael/Maria and memory centered so it may not seem like a lot happesn...but it does. Oh and I updated the Chronological order chart to have the memories from this part.**

Caitiri: Thanks for the review, I hope the chronological order thing helped.

Red-rumm: Happy your still liking it and I appreciate the constant reviews. Kyle makes me happy, he gets one of his wishes in this part. Ummm about Courtney I'll make one correction, you said she's going to help the Pod Squad...I say she's going to help Michael. They're very different things...

Candylovin Fehrian: A long review! Hoorah, I love it. Yeah, we all know how far Michael would go and it was time he actually got to do it, instead of just wanting too. Arhal, and the Gods of Antar, are fair and they do want things to work out for htem this time because last time was so horrible for all of them. As far as Nkyot goes, we actually won't see any of him in this chappie... Thanks for the well wishes, theyre greatly appreciated. I'm happy the timeline helped, it's helped me ...

higherbeingfriendsfan: Another loyal reviewer! I totally adore it. Yeah, Michael is really sweet, he's come a long way from the mean little boy he used to be, though we see a bit of angry shut down Michael again in this part. Happy the chrono helped.

**Collision Part 24 "Shiver"**

_On and on from the moment I wake,  
To the moment I sleep,  
I'll be there by your side,  
Just you try and stop me,_

_"Shiver" Coldplay_

Q was entirely positive that this was one of the highlights of her young, quickly ending life. This moment, these last few hours, were a form of infinite bliss for her. She'd gotten married, merged her single soul with its other half, and bound herself to her husband forever in ways that not even the Gods could tear asunder.

Rath had fallen asleep hours ago thinking that he had all time in the world with her, the rest of their lives. She knew better, knew that they had a day, maybe hours left together, so she'd stayed awake determined not to miss a minute of her marriage. So she lay there in a big bed in her d'rahi with her husband still sprawled across her, clutching her with one of his hands tangled in her hair.

She could feel his heart beating in time with her own as he slept peacefully; they were one always in time now, always flowing in tandem. He was beautiful, his handsome face relaxed in sleep, a small smile gracing his features. His dreams were pleasant, full of happy things and futures; she could feel them vaguely through their bond. She loved that she could, that she could sense his moods, monitor his dreams, feel his joy, feel his love.

She glanced over at his hand tangled in her hair, at his wrist next to her face and the tattoo that rested their. The tattoo that marked him as hers, their Granix symbol; their names intertwined with eternity. He'd bear it for the rest of his life, even after she was gone, his would never fade like most do. She hoped it would remind him of her that every time he saw it he would remember the wife he'd once had. She looked away, not wanting to think about the time that was coming all to soon, she didn't want to leave him, didn't want to die but the poison was working in her system all ready.

But some truths Q couldn't escape, she would die and it would hurt. She would give up her life so that next time they would have a shot, her soul would pass away from Antar and wait for his in the in-between while he lived on. She would die because she didn't have a choice, because if she did, she'd live on with him… Part of her hoped he would marry again so that he could be happy, but part of her hoped he wouldn't, that he'd always just be hers. But her soul knew he wouldn't marry after her, that she was it, his live all and end all for love, that after she left he'd live out his life in a solitary state. It hurt but she knew she'd watch every moment of his life without her, watch him fight, watch him lead, hopefully watch him grow old.

She let her fingers trail down his shoulder, to the tattoo there. There were some truths that Rath couldn't escape either, that were imprinted too strongly on his life, on their soul, to ever really leave behind. She idly started to trace his tattoo, the three intertwined snakes rising from hell. It was one of a matching set of three tattoos, one on Kivar's shoulder and one on Nkyot's. The thought turned her stomach but it was his past, he couldn't escape it. Even the symbolism was permanent, the three snakes rising anew from hell, the three friends born again from surviving their training. Rath was like a phoenix, sent away as a scared little boy only to rise from the ashes of his former personality into the man he'd become. They'd lived together, trained together, gone insane together, burned together, fought together, and now? Now the snakes were even more fitting, the representation of betrayal, because now they'd all betrayed each other. They'd once been closer than brothers and now she was dying because of one of them. If things had been different would they have been at her wedding standing next to him?

She never got to finish her thought because Rath abruptly woke up. His eyes opened, sharpening immediately all vestiges of sleep gone. His eyes met hers and he smiled, moving a touch closer to give her a kiss. "Morning."

"Morning, Soldier boy." She wondered if she'd ever get to say good morning to him again, but resolutely pushed the thought away. She needed to be happy, live it to the fullest, and not be depressed.

He must have sensed her sentimentality through the ties that bound them because he propped himself up, "What's wrong?"

She thought about telling him for a moment, but just as quickly decided against it. It would ruin everything, she didn't want him to treat her any different. "Just trying to figure out if I can cook breakfast."

He smirked, his lopsided smile that told her a million things. "Leave it to me, I'm a pro."

She shook her head, sitting up, her breath going out of her in a woosh. She hadn't been expecting that, the poison wasn't supposed to work at a specific place.

He pulled her up against him, settling her between his legs with her back against his chest. He made an observation, laced with tones of slight regret. "You're sore from last night."

"It's nothing." Her voice sounded high even to her own ears, but she barely noticed through the sudden heat in her face. She was happy he couldn't see her face because she was definitely blushing, the things he'd showed her….

He chuckled softly next to her ear, he knew. Of course he knew; he always would from now on….

"It'll get better, you shouldn't be sore after next time."

"Next time?" It was a squeak; she had thought that was a one time deal to bind their souls. Gods, if there was a next time marriage was even better than she'd thought it would be, though it wasn't like she'd ever imagined it involved anything like that.

He laughed harder, his amusement sparking her own through their soul. His hand idly rubbed her stomach, "So what are we going to tell them?"

Her voice was soft, "I thought you didn't want anybody to know?"

She could feel his slight indecision slipping away. "We can't keep it a secret, at least Zan has to know and as much as I hate to admit we have to tell the First Order."

"What? Why?" It was almost hysterical, if by some miracle the poison didn't kill her the First Order surely would.

He was still softly stroking her stomach. "Zan has to cancel my engagement and it'll be a lot easier to let the First Order know now than to let them find out when you're suddenly pregnant."

She felt her eyes going black, darkening with emotions of loss. She couldn't tell Rath that she'd never give him children without explaining the rest. No matter how much she wanted to, that the Gods would never bless her with his child, she wouldn't even live long enough to bring a baby to term, that she probably wouldn't even live past sunset.

"They'll just think the Gods blessed me."

She could feel his confusion, then a small realization hitting his mind. "Q, you don't think the Gods just randomly bless woman with babies do you?"

Was he dense? "How else would people get babies, Rath?"

This time he was amused, though in a state of slight disbelief, and excited. He explained, idly kissing her neck between words. "They lied to you, babe. People get pregnant because of what we did last night."

She paused, thinking about it, she didn't really understand how that could be, but Rath would probably know and she knew he wasn't lying to her.

"I guess that's why people are always trying to get pregnant." She said slowly.

She could feel the cocky grin on his face, the self-assured amusement rising in their soul, the one that said he knew exactly how he affected her, how much his little kisses were affecting her now. She was starting to fall into them, into him when the burning in her blood started.

The first sign: the beginning of the end, the burning that would slowly consume her from the inside out. 'Give me a day, just a few more hours before the end comes, there's still too much to do.' It was a silent prayer, sent to her Gods in the hope that they still cared after she abandoned them.

There was no answer, so she started to slip away from her husband, her Grantel. "We need to get back."

"They can wait." It was almost a demand, a command because he didn't want to go yet.

Well she didn't want too either, but you can't change what has to happen. "We really need to go..."

She slipped out of their bed, reaching for her wedding dress. He got it first, redressing her in a mist of kisses in an odd reverse of how it had gone the night before. Somewhere along the line during the hazy kisses his clothes got put back on too, and he ended up setting her down next to a small fire.

"You need to eat first; I'm guessing they didn't feed you." His voice was hard, matching the icy anger she could feel running through him. Not anger at her, anger at them, at Nkyot, at what he'd done. His anger would only get worse when he realized all that they had done, that Nkyot was still doing to her now with the poison burning in her veins. But she couldn't help that; she would be gone by the time that anger came.

She watched as he cooked, mesmerized. The burning in her veins was starting to get worse, there was still so much she needed to do, and so much she needed to say. Well she'd start with the most important things.

"Rath?" she asked at he handed her the food.

"Yeah?" he asked, sitting down next to her, starting to eat off the single plate they were sharing.

"I love you." He needed to hear it, even if it didn't seem like it; she knew she didn't say it half as often as she should have. He needed to hear it, and now he could feel it, feel the truth, feel her devotion through the bonds that bound them.

He turned his lip up in a small smirk, "I know."

She sat silently for a second, hurt by his response. Even now he couldn't say the words; even now they were too much. But then she realized that he didn't have to say them ever again, that she could feel them, feel the way he saw her all around her, in her and that that was better than any words.

He glanced over at her alarmed, feeling her hurt. "I love you too; you do know that, right?"

"I do now." She told him softly, feeling it all around her. She'd felt it last night, it had filled the air, choked the room, felt it in every kiss, every touch, every time their soul danced.

He nodded, standing up. "Let's go."

She stood following him, looking around in a type of nostalgia. He caught the feelings, "We'll come back here and visit."

She nodded, it didn't help, but it was nice that he had those dreams. It was nice that he wasn't haunted by the knowledge she was, that he could plan their future and dream about the life they would have without it being colored as never going to happen.

She settled into the xehg tiredly, she wasn't sure if it was from the poison or the vestiges of the fever she'd fought for so long. He noticed, he noticed everything now; there was no hiding to someone who had a hotlink to your soul. "You ok? Still sick?"

She nodded causing him to frown. "I was hoping the Granix would help with that. Doesn't matter, we'll get you some more medicine at the palace."

He paused for a moment, "So your moving into my place right? You can decorate it however you want, just none of that frilly junk, or pink, or tons of flowers, or little fuzzy animals. I don't want our rooms looking like a fracking municipal zoo."

She laughed, Rath's idea of however she wanted was really whatever he wanted or was indifferent too. She would let herself dream this once, play along as they rode back. She couldn't do much until they were at the palace anyway.

"Well, definitely your bedspread has to go-"

"What's wrong with my bedspread?" he cut in.

She rolled her eyes, "It's hideous, old and ugly. I don't know why they let you have that thing in the palace at all."

"You never had a problem with it before…"

He was so difficult. "Well I was never planning on spending any time in it before either. Besides, you said I could do whatever I want."

"Fine, just don't bash my stuff." At least he seemed to realize her point.

She smiled, getting into it. "We can paint the bedroom and put candles in it, and in the sitting room I want some of my instruments so you might have to move some of your weapon thingies. I wonder if Tav can help with decorations…."

"Please no, don't let Tav decorate anything. It'll be frilly and have fuzzy animals and flowers…." He sounded horrified at the thought.

She giggled getting super excited, "It can't be that bad. Besides Tav is my friend, I want her to know about us and help…I bet she'll give us a wedding present."

"Oh gods." It was another groan, he hated Tav's presents.

The burning in her veins was worse now, cutting away her lighthearted mirth and dreams. Everything was starting to blur around the edges. It was too soon, she wasn't ready, she hadn't had enough time.

"Rath you have to forgive Vilandra." Her voice desperate, she was in a race against time now.

He sobered instantly his anger burning her mind, matching the flames that were eating her. "No."

"You have to, if you don't...-"

He cut her off. "No. What if you had died? I can't, I just can't forgive her."

Q was silent for a second, she was dying but Rath didn't know that. She suddenly realized she was going to hurt him with her death, hurt him by not telling him. But it was too late.

"Rath promise me."

"No! For the last time, I'm not going to forgive her."

"It wasn't her fault, she's in love, she's being manipulated. Just…just do it for me, do it because you understand that love makes you do stupid things." She was back to pleading, he had to forgive her or Vilandra was going to do something even worse.

"Stupid things?" His response was immediate, slightly hurt and angry. She immediately regretted her word choice, feeling the emotions he felt.

Q sighed; they were so touchy these days, so easy to wound with the lightest word, the smallest feeling. Being bound was something you had to adjust too, get used to the instant responses before everything was smooth and blissful.

But she didn't have the time, she never would, she would never get the chance to adjust to sharing a soul, never learn to accept and work with the hotlink that bound them. She would just flounder and do her best with the new emotions, revel in the newness and then it would be over.

"I didn't mean it that way, we weren't stupid. But Kivar's using her and she's so caught up in him, in his web that she's not thinking straight. Just think about that….I've already forgiven her." She tried to explain, hoping that he knew how to navigate the feelings between them.

"You were wrong to forgive her." He was adamant.

"No, I wasn't. It's my life; I'm the one he took so I can forgive who I choose. You should respect that, you weren't the one affected. It's not your grudge to bear." She was starting to get angry with him, how was it she could love him so much and be so angry at the same time?

"I wasn't affected? I was the one in the real world; I was the one who was searching for you, freaking out. If something had happened….I would have been the one who had to keep living, who had to deal with all the guilt." His voice held the quiet intensity that meant he was past yelling, that everything was just a bit too real.

Guilt surged through her, rippling in her veins. Gods, what had she done, what was she doing to him? He was the one who would have to keep living, hopefully with Ozma's bond keeping him stable.

"Rath... I have to tell you something….." Her voice was soft, the guilt lacing her lilt making it into something somber. She needed to tell him, she couldn't keep this from him any longer.

He pulled their vehicle off the road, feeling her guilt, her self-hate through their bond. Then he just looked at her, waiting.

"I didn't mean for it to happen this way, I didn't mean for any of it….. I didn't want to hurt you, if I'd known…" She wasn't sure how to tell him, how to come out with the words. How do you tell your husband of less than a day, your Grantel, that your dying?

She didn't know.

"What is it?" It was a worried command.

She met his eyes, she had to look at him for this, had to do it right and not be a coward about it. Her mouth opened but she never got the words out.

The pain ripped through her, her vision graying out into a million little colored spots. The pain was so strong now, too strong for her to hide it, strong enough to quake through their bond and into his mind.

"Q? Q?" His hands were on her face now, the warmth of them slowly brining everything back into focus.

"Are you ok?" He sounded almost desperate.

She nodded slowly, that had taken a lot out of her, as the pain started to fade away. She had been sure that was the end. But she needed to get this out.

"Rath?" Her voice quaked with weakness.

He shook his head, restarting the xehg and pulling it back onto the road starting to speed. "Don't try and talk, you're weak. You just need more medication."

She shook her head, hearing the denial in his tones, realizing that part of him knew already. The part that knew everything about her now, but it was only part and one he would deny, a truth he wouldn't admit or even consider. So she had to consider it for him.

"I'm-" It hit again, worse this time. She was on fire, the world fading into a thousand dots that stabbed her eyes. All that she knew was the pain, hearing echoes of a familiar laughter.

A laughter that had accompanied the sharp pain of a knife, a laughter that had echoed as the dungeon door closed, a laughter that had lurked when he'd promised her death.

The pain faded with Rath's touch, leaving her exhausted and upset in futile battle. She had lost again, been humiliated one more time; Nkyot had taken even a graceful death from her. He'd taken away, prevented her telling her husband of her upcoming death. Done one more small thing to cause Rath more pain, to make it all as horrible as he could.

Oh, she could fight it, tell Rath, but at a cost. She could tell him, but in the process speed up her own death tenfold from the exhaustion and pain. It was a futile battle, one that had no winning game plan, no way out.

She wanted to cry, to bawl at the unfairness of it. But she wouldn't because that admitted he won, she was stronger than that. Instead she remembered something Arhal had told her the night before as he left.

She reached for the compartment in front of her, opening the small latch, and pulled out the small package there. She ripped it open, picking up the small note that fluttered out.

"Littlest,

We forged this for you to give to Rath, because we knew you didn't know what was coming and would want him to have a ring. We wound a protection into it and will watch over him. We love you,

Antar's Chosen"

Her eyes were dark as she read it, as she looked at the 10 signatures there, at the names of her family. They were the closest thing she had to parents, to siblings, to aunts and uncles, they were the ones who'd shown her affection growing up, the ones who'd always defended her to the First Order and accepted her even with her lack of gifts.

"What's that?" Rath asked, glancing over intrigued.

"Come and find out." She teased, crawling into the spacious back area of the xehg knowing he would follow.

He did, putting the vehicle on autopilot first then crawling into the back with her. She smiled at him, grabbing his hand.

She slowly pushed the ring onto his middle finger. It was plain with only the tiniest whirlwind symbol, the whirlwind to represent her. Represent her status as Chosen, ties to the Gods, it was the traditional ring for one who married a Chosen, the traditional ring for the Chosen themselves to wear, except then it represented the Gods. Either way it meant total devotion, forged out of love.

He looked at it, then at their clasped hands and back to her face.

"I can't wear it in public." He blurted it out, worry and a touch of fear etching his tones, but she understood.

"Just for today? Then you can wear it on a chain or something." She was pleading; she wanted him to wear her ring for today, where she could see it. She would always wear his ring, even if she had to hide it with his dog tags around her neck, he needed to see that.

He idly touched the soulstone he'd forged for her, resting on her finger. "For today, then you'll probably have to hide yours too."

She shook her head, crawling up into his lap. "I can't hide from the truth."

She leaned forward, kissing him desperately. Catching his lips in an attempt to make this moment into an eternity, to stave off the inevitable, to feel him as a part of her more strongly. He returned the sentiment just as fervently, working his hand into her hair while his other hand reached for the ties that held her dress closed.

She pulled away abruptly no longer able to feel his lips against her own, everything was starting to go numb. She loved him, wanted him, but even in her last hours there were things that were more important than her marriage. She was his, but her duties to Antar never really went away, never let her have the peace she deserved.

"I need to get to the records room at the First Order." Her voice was weak, shaky but determined.

He looked startled at the sudden change in his plans but merely nodded, orally changing the destination by autopilot. "What do you need to get?"

She curled into his shoulder; she still couldn't feel him where they touched. "A prophecy, I need to burn it."

His shock rocked her mind, burning prophecies were unheard of. It was like burning away part of Antar, taking away their history, their future. But Q had never been traditional or rule abiding…

"Why?" He asked in a slightly strangled voice, he loved Antar.

'To save you' but she couldn't tell him that, couldn't admit that she wanted to tear part of Antar's future asunder to save her husband, couldn't let him know that she wanted to change the course of time.

"I have to." She stated simply, hoping that for once he wouldn't argue.

And for once he didn't, instead jumping onto the prophecy burning bandwagon. "What prophecy?"

She paused, she wasn't entirely sure actually. "It's lost, the counterpart to Destiny. My message undid the first one and now I have to burn the second half…."

He was quiet for a moment, his hate, his regret filling them. Destiny had ruined things, ruined their world, made them into a hidden what might have been, forced so many beautiful relationships into hiding. He intertwined their fingers, looking over at her.

"What happens when we burn it?"

We, it was a beautiful sound. It was amazing to hear him say it, to willingly throw his lot in with hers one last time in this heretical act. To willingly give the First Order one more reason to put his head on a pike. The thought caused her to giggle; she'd like to see them try.

She quickly sobered, "I'm not sure. Hopefully it prevents it, undoes the binding."

He pursed his lips together and nodded, "So we're changing the future, messing with Creation's plan and sticking it to the First Order?"

She paused, she wouldn't have said it exactly like that, but she didn't deal in destruction and defying the odds on a daily basis like he did. He was allowed to be lax about it; this was nothing new to him.

"Pretty much." She agreed.

"I like it. I love when I get to mess with really big shit." She could feel his excitement, the adrenaline beginning to course through him and consequently her. She was just his mirror now, her body mirroring his to keep in tandem. That's all they were now, a set of mirrors, but what happens when one of the mirrors breaks?

"Done this before?" She queried softly, amused but oddly sad at the same time. There was still so much she didn't know about him, so much she would never know….

He gave her a feral grin, one she'd learned to associate with his fighting days, with the thrill of killing or defying death. "Oh yeah. I haven't actually torched any prophecies but…."

He paused, letting the tension and suspense build. They were bound but she still couldn't read his mind or predict his words and she loved it like that. She could feel the cool, burning center of Ozma's power through him, rising at the memory.

"Do you remember that huge blowout on Kathor a few years back, between the Kathorians and Zontu?"

She nodded.

"That was all me, well I guess Kivar helped a bit." He added grudgingly.

"You started a war?" She asked in disbelief, her voice raising and cracking.

He grinned proudly, "Yup."

"Rath….that was a horrible war; I went to Kathor to help with the peace treaties." She remembered the devastation vividly and the long talks that followed.

He shrugged, "Orders, but I did a good job right? Well I wasn't actually ordered to start a war…It was one of my first assignments and they said to cause a distraction on Kathor so they wouldn't undo the trading agreement with Antar."

"So you started a war…" she supplied, still in a state of disbelief.

"Well actually I stole one of Kathor's ships and blew up the Zontu's moon, which is a huge part of their religion I'll have you know... And that started the war." He supplied helpfully.

She shook her head, some questions she shouldn't have asked but she was still fascinated. "How old were you?"

"17….I was a bit crazy before I got my akino, we were all out of control back then."

Privately she thought that was the understatement of the year but wasn't about to tell him that. Instead she smiled, thinking of what Tav had told her. Rath had done some good starting a war, giving Tav the love of her life, her first husband. Funny how it worked out that way, she'd met Rath after a battle. It was all a full cycle, love and life springing from the fields of death.

But that was a secret, so all she said was, "Tav's from Kathor."

He nodded sulkily as if she'd undone all of his hard work, "I know, she actually helped stop the war..."

Her amusement fled as she realized he said Kivar had helped, this was just perfect Kivar had experience starting wars. Wonderful, because he was doing it again except this time they were all pawns. Q sighed, her breath a small whoosh, she wished she could feel his fingers running through her hair.

The vehicle beeped at them, prompting Rath to crawl back into the front and maneuver them into a hidden spot at the temple. She could barely see now, everything was so blurry, a mess of colors and shapes, how was she supposed to find the prophecy?

She didn't know but if she had to she'd torch the whole place, burning everything down…..

They snuck out of the vehicle, her clinging hard to Rath's hand in an attempt to feel him, to keep her fears at bay. They stuck to the shadows, Rath leading the way, darting in and out of buildings. He was so good at this, she noted idly, this sneaking around and staying unseen. She'd never had that grace or type of invisibility, she'd always had eyes following her every move.

Gods, all of this felt so familiar, as if they'd done it a thousand times and maybe they had. Maybe it always played out like this, life after life, her clinging to his hand as they ran, as they rushed trying to change their fate….

They finally made it to the hallway, but there were guards outside the door. Suddenly there was a loud noise at the other end of the hallway, but everything was to blurry for her to see what was happening.

The guards ran off, causing Rath to drag her down the hallway and into the room before they could return from his distraction.

"Now what?" He asked, grabbing a light and handing her one.

She closed her eyes, opening her senses. She could feel it, a dark pulsing light almost at it's full power. What most people didn't know was that the prophecies had power unto themselves, pulsing and beating with life the closer it got to their time to act. What most people didn't know was that you could kill them because they were living things.

"This way." She directed, stumbling off in the direction of the light. Everything was tilting from side to side, her eyesight all but nonexistent. She was going downhill fast, but she needed to do this, had to do this.

She hit something hard, reaching out blindly to feel with her hands as she careened backwards.

Rath's hands steadied her, "Are you ok?"

She nodded weakly, leaning into him for a second before pulling away. She was so close….

Her hand closed around the burning, pulsing light. It burned her, ate her alive, matching the fire in her veins. Matching the death she felt pulsing in her body, stealing away her life. She was holding death, his death, and she was going to destroy it.

She laughed, she'd found it, she'd done it, it was pure joy, pure relief, pure love. It echoed around the chamber in bells of triumph.

She turned realizing something else, she couldn't just destroy it, they all needed to be there. It was their future not hers, they had to be the ones to finish it, to willingly change their fate.

"Rath? We've got to go see Zan." Why was her voice so weak? She felt better, more alive.

"Zan can wait for once." He responded, reaching out for her in alarm.

"But I can't." She whispered as her world erupted into a galaxy of stars.

She was falling, burning and flaming, losing all control of her body as it shut down. The prophecy slipped from her grasp, rolling away as he caught her.

"Qaelia! What's wrong? You can't leave me." He sounded so far away, so frantic, but at the same time so close, the words echoing between them on the cords that held them together. It was so confusing, so close, yet so far, but they were starting to drift apart already. She wondered if he could feel it, if he could feel the ties binding them starting to sever, to break, to rip them back to the two separate beings they'd been before.

"Everyone leaves me." It was a mere afterthought on his part as she felt the ground touch her back.

She could feel again, feel his hands on her face but it was too definite, too sharp. Everything was coming back into focus, into a state of hypersensitivity so that she could always remember her dying moments in excruciating detail. It was all too much, the images burning themselves into her retina's, the small drip of water echoing in her ears, the flaming burning death prophecy burning brighter than everything else.

"The prophecy.." She tried to tell him, he had to get rid of it. He had to finish it or she'd die in vain…

He ignored her, his hysteria racing through them, colliding and coupling with her pain. He lifted her, clutching her close and murmuring to her. "The Granolith, I'll take you there and it'll be all right."

But all she could see was the dark pulsing light of the prophecy lying on the floor as they moved away. It was shining death's bright glow, mocking her, she was dying and it was living on…

"Rath the prophecy…" She tried again desperately to tell him through the fires that engulfed her, but her words were so soft.

Why was everything in her so bright, so much, but when she tried to reach out of herself it was so weak? Was this how it ended, in contradictions, in pain, in loss?

"You're more important, baby." He whispered in her ear in a choked voice.

But she wasn't and she watched helplessly over his shoulder as the door closed behind them, locking in his future, his death, locking in the end.

She'd failed, and she would die that way, die a failure knowing that she could have saved him. Die knowing that she would have to watch his death, watch the death of Antar as they knew it. Was her death in vain then? Was her life? Was their story always doomed to end this way, to never break the cycle that had bound their souls for so long? Would he remember her with love, or only with hate?

Her eyes went to the sharp planes of his face, the face she'd memorized a thousand times, a face she'd loved and condemned to death.

It hurt so much now, so much more than her broken shoulder, so much more than the Purification, so much more than the Possession and month that followed, so much more than the torture. All she had left was pain, was that all she could leave him with, her pain? Would that be her legacy to him? She hoped not, but she was beyond praying, beyond hoping.

Her neck went limp, her head falling to his shoulder helplessly. The death pain was so much now, so intense, she'd been right she'd never see the sunset….

And Q, Chosen of the Gods, Blessed one of Antar, wife of Rath, Granela to his soul started to cry.

……………………………………………………..

Maria woke abruptly, the sad vestiges of the memory playing through her mind. She tried to sit up but there was a weight on top of her.

She focused her eyes, completely confused, he was sprawled across her. Was it Earth or Antar?

She opened her mouth to scream in hysteria but he woke up first, silencing her opening mouth. He took one look at her face, then propped himself up, "What's wrong?"

"Uhhhh" she wasn't sure what to say, she was completely confused, the memory and real life blending together.

"Maria?" he tried again, rolling to his side and off of her.

"Michael?" She clarified, relief rushing through her.

"Yeah. Now what's wrong, you were about to scream." He prompted.

She was confused for a second, "You could feel that?"

He rubbed his face frowning, "Yeah."

"I had a bad dream. Well memory thing, and I guess it wasn't all that bad…" She babbled at him, propping herself onto her side facing him.

"What was it about?" he queried with a yawn, staring at her intently.

She picked at the lose threads on her polar bear, "We were married and I was dying. I was trying to burn a prophecy but I failed…."

He didn't say anything causing her to look up at him. Pain was etched all over his face, an old pain, the pain of a memory, of a life where she'd been gone. Rath's old pain, his insanity, the pain that kept him angry even after all these years. While Q was peaceful in death Rath wasn't, he still held onto all that pain, all that insanity from their soul tearing in two….some wounds never heal.

"You should have told me what was coming." His voice was soft, intense, repeating the argument they'd had so many times before and would have so many more times.

She reached out, touching his cheek, they were so close physically but so far apart mentally. Some truths never change, even when they'd been married they hadn't really been on the same page.

"Would it have changed anything?" She asked idly, sadly.

"I don't know."

His voice was soft, confirming her fears that he might not have married her if he'd known, might not have willingly tied his soul to hers only to have it ripped apart hours later.

She sighed, "If it helps I tried to tell you, but I couldn't; the poison had a safety mechanism preventing me…"

A sound came from the hallway, and Mrs.DeLuca poked her head in. "I heard noises…"

She came over, brushing Maria's hair out of her face, then glaring at Michael. "Why are you in the bed?"

Maria looked at her mother, "I had a bad dream.."

Mrs.DeLuca looked at her for a second, then back to the bright purple sleeping bag with flowers all over it, obviously unslept in. Slowly her eyes turned back to Michael.

"I didn't put the sleeping bag on the floor for decoration."

Maria could practically see the disgust on his face, he would never sleep in a purple, flowered sleeping bag. She suppressed her smile, hiding her face in her polar bear.

"Mom, don't you think he deserves to sleep in a bed after what he did for me?" She tried, keeping her amusement well hidden.

"Not in your bed with you in it." Her mother snapped, motioning for him to leave the bed.

Maria reached out, latching onto his arm as he started to slide away grateful that he wasn't getting beaten with a newspaper. "I had a bad dream, you're not going anywhere."

"Maria" her mother warned.

"No, Mom. God, why don't you trust me? I've been stabbed, attacked, possessed, sent back in time and terrorized. Believe me sex is the last thing on my mind. Why can't you see that?"

"I trust you baby, I just-"

Maria cut in, "But you don't trust Michael. After everything he's done for us you can't trust him with me."

Her mother was quiet for a moment examining him. Finally she spoke in a steely voice.

"I trust him with you more than I trust anyone else. It's just not right for him to be sleeping with you."

"But it is right, can't you see that? For me it's right, it's safe." Maria pleaded, her anger and desperation shining through.

Her mother looked at them for a long time then sighed, "Fine. Sleep tight, but Michael…."

He gulped, "I'll keep it away, very far away…"

She nodded, leaving quietly but making sure to leave the door open.

"What are you keeping away?" Maria asked, settling back into the pillows on her side facing him.

He just looked at her intently, intensely, causing her to emit a small. "Oh."

She started to play with her bear again, as he settled in on his side, facing her.

"They have such a sad story. Shakespeare would have totally eaten it up, it's way more dramatic than Romeo and Juliet."

"Rath and Q or everybody?" He asked idly fixing the covers around her shoulders.

"Rath and Q, I mean it's full of so much hurt. She died for him, she willingly just died. And he lived for her, fought for her…" She trailed off, it was weird, kind of like talking in third person. Q was a separate person but was also a part of her, all of her memories were from Q's point of view, but they weren't the same..

"They had it tough."

Privately Maria thought that was the understatement of the year but she didn't want to delve into his psyche too much. She didn't want to dredge up any painful memories for him or Rath. Funny how now she not only had to tiptoe around Michael's own painful past with Hank but with Rath's, how she had to maneuver carefully not to upset anybody, past or present.

Michael, no matter how rude or gruff, or how many times he just didn't get it, was always there. He understood what nobody else could, he felt for her, he saw her as she was and cared, and he tried. He tried so hard, and no matter how many times he got it wrong, like shampoo plus conditioner, she loved him. He was it, there was no way around it, no running anymore, no need to look any further.

She stared at him, understanding fully why Q was so willing to die for Rath. This was it; what people searched their whole lives for, wrote poetry about, this was rare, a live all and end all.

And it was hers, the little girl whose father left her, and the little boy who never had any parents, two kids from junky homes had found something big. She'd never expected something like this, always thought it was reserved for people like Liz and Max, people with picture perfect lives and picture perfect morals. Not for her and Michael, not for the screw ups and rejects of the world.

"Do you think our story will be as sad as theirs?" She asked softly. Wanting, no needing to know, what he thought. Sometimes the memories of Q's life left her so depressed, feeling so hopeless.

He moved his head closer, so that they were sharing a pillow. Reaching out and intertwining their fingers. His voice held the velvet tones he only used with her, laced with the unfamiliar softness of hope.

"No, I think we're supposed to be the happy ending."

……………………………………..

Maria twirled the combination on her locker happily, she'd won the argument. They'd screamed and fought, but she'd won, so here she was at school determined to have a perfectly normal day.

"So you and Michael shared a bed last night, huh?" Tess prompted evilly from her left.

"Where'd you hear that?" Maria asked, sharing a glance with Liz. Aliens always seemed to be in on the loop.

Tess flipped her blonde hair over her shoulder, eyeing a football player as he walked by. "The Sheriff was on the phone with your mom, it came up."

Liz rolled her eyes, "You're as bad as Kyle, always eavesdropping."

"It wasn't eavesdropping. I was eating cereal and he was talking loudly, a mere coincidence."

"Now you really sound like Kyle…" Maria told the other blonde who was admittedly using a very Kyle-esque form of reasoning.

"Whatever, back to the whole bed thing, you've still got your V card….right?" Tess asked eagerly.

Maria paused mid opening the locker door to stare at Tess. "Tess!"

"You still do, don't you?" Liz parroted with a frown from the other side, double teaming her.

Maria rolled her eyes, checking herself in the mirror on her locker door.

"Of course, we're not out of control animals. We slept, I had a bad dream, Michael was uncharacteristically sweet and quasi-understanding."

"Ooooh, do tell. I love sweet boys, but alas I don't have one…." Tess said, sighing dramatically and leaning against the locker.

Maria looked in her locker, at the small folded piece of paper there. With a smile she reached out grabbing it,

"ER 11:15"

She smiled again, it was a typical Michael note, the same one he'd written so many times before. Sometimes he was nice enough to give her warning rather than just grabbing her in the hallway and dragging her off into the eraser room.

"Maria….." Liz wheedled, nudging her in the side.

She shut her locker with a snap, turning back around to her girls. The three of them started to drift down the hallway as she talked.

"Like I said I had a bad dream, well flash thing. It was so sad, and I ended up asking Michael if he thought our story was going to be as sad as Rath's and Q's. You'll never guess what he said!"

"That he won't let it?" Tess tried, earning her a smile but a firm headshake.

"No, but good try." It was something Michael would say.

"That he has to be a stonewall?" Liz offered with a furrowed brow.

Maria smiled again, "No, I think we're finally past the stonewall phase.-"

"And into the drywall!" Tess offered, then covered her mouth.

"Gosh, I really do need to stop hanging out with Kyle all the time…" She shook her head, motioning for Maria to continue.

Maria smiled, "Well anyway, Michael said that we're the happy ending."

There was a beat of silence, disbelief from the other girls.

Then Liz asked, her tones still not quite believing, "Michael said that?"

"As in Michael Guerin, the broody, moody, emotional retread?" Tess clarified.

Maria smiled happily at them, at first she'd been in much the same state. "As in Michael Guerin, the broody, moody, emotional retread no longer."

Liz impulsively hugged her friend, "That's so un-Michael like! Wow, he's totally changed, first the ring then Michael actually saying the right thing at the right time. It's like Christmas come early!"

Maria laughed, "I'm not sure it's quite on par with the birth of baby Jesus……"

"What's not on par?" Michael asked from directly behind them.

Maria spun around, giggling, taking the other two girls with her. Liz and Tess burst into matching giggles staring at him.

"You!" Maria replied to him, slipping closer to get a hug.

He obliged, wrapping his arms around her waist, smirking down at her after an odd glance at the giggling girls. "You're right, I'd win hands down any day."

Liz and Tess still giggling madly slipped away without either Maria or Michael noticing.

Maria was confused anyway, "I have no clue what you're talking about."

He rolled his eyes, nudging her to start walking again. "You never do."

"I do too! I'm normally a very with it chick."

He rolled his eyes again at her assertion. "Yes, very with it. Anyway, how ya doin?"

She smiled, knowing from the tones of his voice that he still wasn't happy she'd come to school today. He'd tried every tactic he'd ever used, even attempting to get her mother on his side to keep her away.

"I feel good, happy and normal!"

They turned into her classroom, silently. Maria slipped into her seat, confused as Michael slipped into the seat behind her.

"Uh, Spaceboy you're not in this class. See your 2 rooms down the hall…."

He leaned back, "I know."

She was still confused, so she tried again, enunciating just in case he was being particularly dense today. "You're in the wrong class."

"No I'm not." He argued.

It finally clicked for her, he was doing his oddly sweet stalkerish routine for protection. Was it weird that she liked that he stalked her?

"Michael…." She tried, it was sweet, but it would never fly.

"No, Maria." He was adamant.

She sighed, "Michael I have this class with Max and Kyle, I think I'll be perfectly safe for the next hour."

He was silent, just staring at her.

She tried again, "Besides you have art. I don't want you to miss art, you actually like that class."

It was true, ever since he'd discovered he could paint he'd gone to art regularly and even signed up for art 2 this year. It always made her smile, Michael definitely wasn't someone you looked at and said artist.

"Why are you in my seat?" It was Kyle, appearing in the isle with Max, confused as always.

Michael ignored them. "Don't go anywhere by yourself and if anything happens, anything Maria, as in you start feeling sick or whatever, come get me."

She nodded, keeping her face as serious as she could, Michael was so serious about protecting her that it always baffled her.

He stood, turning to Max and Kyle. "I'm in the art room. You know the drill."

He paused, looking at Kyle. "If anything happens it's on your head."

Then he walked off, causing Kyle to sit down with a loud thump. "Why is it on my head? Why is it always my fault? I mean I'm completely human, utterly good looking and ridiculously strong, but human. Why can't it be your fault, I mean you were a King."

Max grinned, "Didn't you know it's never the King's fault."

Kyle groaned, then glared at Maria. "You better not break so much as a nail. So just sit there, like a little glass doll and don't do anything dangerous, like get a splinter in your hand because I don't want to die."

Maria blinked innocently, holding out her pencil to him. "So does that mean you'll sharpen my pencil for me? Because I might fall walking over there…"

Kyle made a face, but decided to be safe rather than sorry, after it was his life. He grabbed the pencil, causing both Maria and Max to smile.

"Think of it this way, Michael pretty much admitted he trusted you enough to put you in charge…" Max offered.

Kyle grinned, "I'm in charge?"

Max nodded jokingly, not realizing what he was doing.

Kyle's grin widened evilly, then he handed the pencil to Max. "Well in that case, you sharpen her pencil."

Maria and Max looked at each other, then back to Kyle who had all sorts of fantasies of grandeur and world domination playing across his face.

"We've created a monster…"

…………………………..

Maria slipped into the eraser room quietly, after a quick stop at the bathroom mirror to freshen up and make sure she looked good.

"Michael?" she asked, he was usually there before her, eraser room time was the one thing she could count on him to be on time to.

"Please don't scream." Victor said coming out of the shadows. He looked horrible, like he'd been rotting in hell for days.

Maria couldn't have screamed if she tried, she was frozen in terror. Lost in memories and horror, lost to the fear that he was going to kill her, that Fonbar wasn't really dead.

He rubbed his face, "I just wanted to apologize, he…he used me. I didn't know, I'm so sorry but then he went away, he left my mind."

He looked at her, the insane crazy creature Isabel had seen locked away in his mind. "He was so horrible, so twisted, so obsessed with you. In his own way I think he actually loved you, at one time, but then…it festered into an obsession, a twisted horrible obsession that overtook everything."

Maria found that her legs worked, stepping back away from his ramblings.

"That alien, he took over my mind, but he left. You don't think I'm crazy do you? You know that aliens exist…Oh god what if he comes back?" He was ranting at her, half crazy from the nightmare that had been his life while he was jailed.

"Michael killed him." She managed to say, not sounding half as terrified as she felt.

A tear of joy rolled down his face, "Thank God. Thank the gods…."

She nodded, reaching for the handle behind her. He noticed, "I just wanted to apologize, the Sheriff released me today citing lack of evidence…I think he knew it wasn't me…."

She just nodded again, like a deer in headlights.

He paused, his eyes focusing, narrowing as his body twitched. "Michael is Rath….so he's an alien too…..Oh God, not again."

She stiffened, this time in anger instead of fear. "Leave Michael alone."

He rubbed his face, "Aliens…"

She stalked forward, feeling a touch of the protective fury she imagined Michael always felt towards her.

"If you say anything to anyone about Michael I'll kill you."

He looked taken aback, his hands twitching nervously. It was perfectly obvious, even to his addled mind, that she meant every word she was saying, that she would kill him and wouldn't regret it.

"I won't, I promise." He twitched again, only so far away from breaking down.

Maria narrowed her eyes, an idea coming to her. She would make sure he couldn't say anything to anyone about any of what had happened.

"No you won't because I'm going to get your head fixed."

He shook his head backing away, "Leave my head alone."

She stalked forward, "It'll make the aliens go away."

"I said No." He screamed at her, throwing his arm out blindly.

She stopped, she didn't want to get hit with that fist again. Her voice was quiet, imploring. "Talk to Tess, she can help you."

He nodded and she left. Slipping out the room shakily, relieved. Seeing him again had been the last thing she'd been expecting, the last thing she wanted.

The terror had made her limbs weak, her heart beat faster and now it was only beginning to come back down to regular. She walked down the hallway on legs like jello, barely making herself take another step.

After what seemed like an eternity she came to his classroom, feeling worse than she had when she fled the eraser room. Instead of getting better she just seemed to feel worse, to feel weaker again, to feel tired, to feel confused.

She opened the door with a quaking hand, she felt so disjointed as if it wasn't really her hand.

Her eyes swept the room, latching on his quickly standing figure. Their eyes met and she burst into tears.

The next thing her disjointed mind knew was that she was in his arms getting propelled out into the hallway.

"Maria? What's wrong?" His tones were so anxious as she sobbed against him.

She lifted her tearstained face from his chest. He was two people, two images overlaid and she wasn't sure which one she wanted.

"Michael!" she exclaimed shakily, already starting to want the other one.

He was rubbing her back, trying to get her to calm down, but it wasn't helping. She leaned into him, feeling so tired, still upset and crying.

"Rath" she whispered softly, the exhale taking her back to a time where he was the one she'd wanted…..

………………………

Q shut the door to her rooms with a snap, she was so tired. It had been such a long day, it was perfect timing for a nap.

She wandered over to her bed, straightening small items as she went. There was something on her bed, curious she crept closer.

A lone ochai flower with a note tied to its stem rested on her pillow. She picked it up, a tender smile gracing her face.

She inhaled the heady scent, like the moon rising over the forest, and smiled. This was an unexpected and unusually sweet gesture from Rath. He never did things like this, and if he tried he'd usually done something wrong and was trying to make up for it or it just didn't work out…

Excited she grabbed the note, wondering what romantic phrases would accompany the beautiful flower. The paper was soft in her hands, bearing the small crest of the Armed Forces.

"The hill above the life lake at the rising of the three."

She folded the note carefully back up, sticking it under her pillow. With a smile and humming a small tune she put her flower in some water and decided to take her time getting ready.

She pranced over to her closet deciding that she definitely was changing dresses. She flung the wardrobe open wide, displaying all of her choices. It had to be pretty, noticeable, preferably one of his favorite colors and maybe a touch risqué.

There was the blue dress, it was pretty, soft to the touch and everyone seemed to like it.

But then she saw the silver dress with the copper sheen. Now this, this was what she'd been looking for. Beautiful, soft, noticeable, definitely falling into his favorite colors and if she took off the shawl it was a bit scandalous… Besides last time she'd worn it Rath's eyes had followed her everywhere, burning even hotter than usual, and she knew he loved how it felt under his hands because he hadn't let go of her for the longest time..

She quickly changed dresses, flitting over to the mirror and unwinding her hair. He liked it best when she wore it free down her back, and she liked it best because he always ran his hands through it.

She grabbed the tube of shiny gloss, running it over her lips. Big, glossy, unmissable. Perfect.

She smiled at her reflection, the flutters beginning in her stomach. He always had this affect on her, even just the thought of him sent her into a world of happy jitters and daydreams.

With one last spritz of the sweet and spicy perfume she'd made she left, hurrying off to the hill.

She wondered what he had planned, the hill was such a romantic spot with a beautiful view of the lake especially with the moons rising above it. What was the special occasion? She didn't think it was their anniversary or anything like that.

What if he was proposing?

The thought popped into her head, unbidden and slightly unwanted, but caused her to stop walking all the same, her heart threatening to hammer out of her chest. She took a moment, trying to calm herself down, trying to stop the hope that was rising in her and flooding everything else out. He wouldn't propose, he didn't want marriage, couldn't have it, he'd reminded her of it a thousand times. He was always so careful never to promise her anything resembling forever, never to let her hope.

But what if?

She began walking again, a bit faster this time. She couldn't shake the thought from her mind, part of her knew he wasn't actually going to propose but the bigger part was hoping, arguing. He'd left her a flower, since when did Rath leave her notes or flowers? He always just whispered a place in her ear or caught her unaware..

Still, but what if?

She let her mind wander to the fantasies she'd always had of him, of the marriage they would never get but she would always crave. Arhal would marry them, of course, and there would be flowers everywhere, absolutely everywhere, in her hair, on her wrists, in the trees, on the ground. Zan could give her away, or maybe Fonbar, but no Rath wouldn't like that, so Zan would give her away. And Rath would be waiting for her next to the altar in the traditional gleaming pewter, he would look so good in it too, she could imagine the picture so clearly in her mind. Her flaming red dress to his shining pewter, the lifeblood to the death, the representation of the blending till death do us part. And he'd give her one of those rare beautiful smiles she treasured then he'd say those words she'd only heard him say once but could sometimes feel vibrating between them.

Her feet stilled to a stop, she was here. Q glanced around, he wasn't here yet, so she wandered over to the fallen tree and settled herself on it. She let her shawl slide down her shoulders just enough to let some of the tattooed skin show, just enough that he'd definitely notice.

"Fancy meeting you here." He whispered, slipping out of the trees and sitting down next to her.

But it wasn't Rath.

She yanked her shawl back up around her shoulders, turning to glare at the stranger. "You tricked me."

He shrugged, those gold eyes watching her lazily. "Not hard to do."

He ran his eyes up and down her, taking in her attire. He let a long lazy smile grace his face, his eyes amused and telling her he knew exactly why she'd dressed up. "You look awfully nice."

She stiffened involuntarily, he made her so uncomfortable. "What do you want Kivar?"

He scooted closer, loving the effect he was having on her.

"You." It was a mere whisper right next to her ear.

She moved away, standing up and going to look at the red life lake beneath.

He laughed, a low rumble. "I'm not that easy to escape, my siren."

She turned on him, facing him with all the disappointment of her dreams of a proposal crashing around her.

"Leave me alone."

"But I need you…" He sounded deceptively honest, coming to stand next to her.

"But I hate you." She parroted effortlessly, words were her weapon, her forte.

He laughed again, "No, you're afraid of me. It's a very different thing, my siren. You can't ever hate me, I'm too much like him."

"You'd like to think that wouldn't you? But the sad truth is, you're nothing like him Kivar. You're a sad wannabe who will never wield the power, never own it the way he does. Oh you might get the crown but Antar will never really be yours without Rath."

She laughed light and bell like at the anger crashing across his face. "And you'll never get him if you kill me."

He was silent, for a beat causing her to smile. "You're in a crux now, aren't you? I won't follow you and Rath won't give you power…..so here's my question."

He cut in, "I don't want your divine questions or ambiguous messages, I don't want your foretelling. I just want your voice."

She ignored him, he would never have that. Whatever she was she was her own, and not his tool. "Is your love of power greater than your loyalties of friendship? I've seen the tattoo you bear, know your history. Which is stronger, the call of blood or the call of life?"

He was quiet a long time, so she turned back to the life lake. This was a dangerous game she was playing, power and emotions, the two never mixed and she was trying to twine them to her own beat.

"If you help me there will be no blood shed." He promised finally with the threat hanging open ended.

She heard it, words were their tools, both her and Kivar alike. They heard what went unsaid, what was between the lines, what the silence spoke. And silence is the most telling of all, what people left unsaid, the desires that go unvoiced.

"You won't kill him. You can't." She said softly.

He agreed, "No I can't. We've been through too much together, we're closer than brothers in a way."

But she heard what he didn't say, that even though he couldn't kill him didn't make Rath any safer, he could always just let someone else do the job.

"Did you know we were bound during training? Before you get an Uron they bind your soul to another trainee, to learn how to use another's strengths, to learn how to use the bond to the highest potential." He told her idly.

Despite the fact that they were on different sides she was fascinated. "Like a Granix bond? What was it like?"

He shook his head, looking over at the lake before them. "No, not like a Granix. They could have never undone a bond that strong; there's only one way out of bonds like that. Death. No, it was like brothers, our minds were connected sharing thoughts, and our power centers were linked, but our souls were our own."

She was quiet, she would never have either type of bond. Her soul was Antar's, not even truly her own.

"Will you let Antar burn?" He asked, his turn to pose a question.

She was quiet, it wasn't her place to save Antar or let it burn. She was merely a vessel.

He smiled, "Now it's your turn for a choice. Do you love him more than Antar?"

"They're one and the same." She said softly, in so many ways Rath was just an embodiment of Antar, of its values, of its history. In a way he'd been there through all of it, reborn again and again, and if he died now, he'd just come back…

"I can make life very hard for you, and for him, if you don't help me." Kivar promised.

Q blinked, this was her choice, her comfort or a world that was fair. It wasn't really a choice at all, she had the Gods to protect her. She didn't fear pain, but then again she'd never really known pain either.

"I can take your pain." She told him softly without the quiver of fear that should have laced her tones, might have at any other time.

He laughed again, those gold eyes piercing. "Are you sure of that, my Siren? I'm not Nkyot, it won't be physical….at least not yet. The pain I give is different, it tears your soul apart…"

That was all he had, a promise of a beating down the line if she wasn't a good girl. She didn't really understand the other part, how could you tear one soul apart?

He laughed again, sensing her dilemma. Then he idly reached out, brushing the hair off of her shoulder gently, like a lover would.

"You're so very naïve. You forget, my siren, that pain comes in many forms, in disappointment, in terror, in death. You forget, my siren, that by not helping me you're only making it worse for yourself, for him, for the eventual end we both know is coming. You forget, my siren, that you're not the only one who holds sway over Rath, that you're a newcomer to this game. You forget, my siren, that you're choices, the words you refuse to sing, don't just affect you.."

He circled her as he talked, idly going around and around, getting closer and closer and then he drifted away. He slipped down the hill, leaving her with an aching head and mind full of indecision, leaving her with the echoes of half-baked promises.

She stared at the life lake beneath her, at the point where it supposedly all began, where the circle of life touched, where the lines between this world and the next were thin. But she found no answers there.

She had so many choices here and Kivar was right, it didn't just affect her, it affected everyone, Rath, the Royals, Antar and even beyond that. If she was selfish she would help him, sing for him, let him use her voice to garner followers, to gather power and in return be safe, have a chance with Rath because the engagement would go away. But that wasn't an option, it wasn't even a feasible possibility because Rath would never stand for Kivar in power, would never let Zan get unseated, because Rath would never let the world be that way.

She could keep denying Kivar, Nkyot and whoever else they sent after her, could take the pain he'd promised, deal with the beatings, until they eventually tired of the game and killed her. Oh, they'd try and break her first, but as meek as she seemed her core was steel and that day would never come. And she could hope, she could hope that maybe somewhere along the line their plans would all go wrong, that Rath and Zan would figure it out and kill them.

She sighed, she'd been given the voice with the power to change the world, but the only way to use it was to be silent. Sometimes it made her wonder why she was sent at all, if it wasn't to help, to do any good why send her? It wasn't for herself, her life, her soul belonged to Antar no matter how much she might have wished otherwise.

She loved Rath with everything she had and more, with a heart supposed to love a planet, but even that wasn't enough, even with all of those feelings he still couldn't be first. It was still always Antar, her life bound by duty, by service, by a choice she never made. And at times like this she hated it, hated that she was living a life that wasn't her own, doomed to feel pain for choices that weren't hers to make, doomed to a life of silence and doing nothing.

She stared at the red life lake beneath her, its shimmering bloody depths. Where it began, where it ended, where things were brought anew, where believers were baptized. The water of life, the water of change, the water of choice.

Maybe it was time she made her own choice, instead of the ones laid out for her.

She jumped.

……………………………………..

Maria sat up slowly looking around only to find herself in the school nurses office.

"Lay back down, sweetheart, we don't want you to black out again." The nurse said, pushing her back into a lying position.

She looked around for Michael, only to find him lurking in a corner. She smiled at him, to let him know she was alright.

The nurse was still talking to her, "So this young man here tells me you've got Mono, tsk tsk young lady, that's the kissing disease!"

The nurse glared at Michael, apparently deciding that he was the one who gave her mono. He glared back, somehow suppressing the smirk.

Maria sat up, turning around to glare at Michael.

"Mono?" she mouthed.

He shrugged causing her to roll her eyes.

The nurse drew her attention away, "Now I'm going to send you home, you shouldn't be at school if you're going to be passing out in the hallways. Did you drive?"

Maria nodded, she had her car, although Michael had driven it.

Then nurse wrote something on a slip, "Can you drive or do you want me to call your mother again?"

"Again?" Maria queried.

The nurse nodded glancing askance to the corner, "I called her when you first came in, she wants you to go home, actually she said she wanted Michael to take you home."

"That's fine." Maria said, standing.

The nurse frowned looking over at Michael, "I can't release you without talking to your parents first."

"I don't have any." Michael snapped, handing Maria her jacket.

Maria cut in, trying to smooth over the scandalized face of the nurse. "He's an emancipated minor, you can ask the principal…"

Her face clouded over in thought, "Emancipated minor….Guerin? Michael Guerin."

He nodded warily.

The nurse turned away writing another slip, she turned back, pity lacing her tones and face. "My sister is the nurse at Roswell Elementary…has been for the past 20 years. I've heard.."

She stopped, shaking her head, realizing that whatever she was going to say didn't matter.

Maria glanced over at Michael, his face was stony, hard, angry. It was just another case of how he could never escape his past, how he was still just some beat up kid from the trailer park in this woman's eyes.

"I don't want your pity." He snapped, the anger, the latent threat barely contained.

"You should see the school psychologist about this.." The nurse tried to offer.

"No." It was a snap as he grabbed the notes out of her hand.

Maria smiled nervously at her before following Michael into the hallway. He was pissed, angry and distant. She was never sure quite how to deal with him when he got like this, his past wasn't something they'd ever really talked about. Funny how they could talk about Rath's issues but not his own….

She wanted to let him know that she was there for him, but didn't want to make a scene or cause an awkward moment. So she did what they did best, communicated without words.

Wordlessly she reached out, intertwining their fingers as they headed towards the parking lot. She gave his hand a light squeeze, hard enough to tell him she would always be there whenever he wanted to talk about it.

He glanced over, their eyes meeting. He didn't want to talk about it. Not now, not tomorrow, maybe not ever but he got the message, she'd be there if he ever did, after all, they had forever.


	32. Chapter 25

**AN: I loved the reviews as always, though they seem to be getting less and less. Sigh. Anyway just a heads up about this part, it's got some heavy stuff, angst and some disturbing topics but I do my best to explain why. **

**CandyLovin Fehrian: Another lovely review! Michael really was sweet, he's learning. Kivar and Nkyot, someone takes it too far this next part. But we also see Kivar trying to help Rath. Anyway yeah Kyle in charge, we definitely see more of that in this part. That little megalomaniac that we all love.**

**higherbeingfriendsfan: Your review made me smile becauase you were so excited! Everyone loves Kyle, being in charge so I just had to bring it back... Q's death was hard, her life was hard. And Rath, we see some of Rath this next part on how it still haunts him. But this time there's osmething Rath can't tell Q!**

**Red-rumm: Great review, so everytime I see your name it makes me smile bc I defintely used to write redrum on people's cars with lipstick for dares. We thought we were pretty cool. Q's death was really depressing, but I think your right. Kyle makes up for all the sadness in the world.**

**Collision Part 25 "Harder to Breathe"**

_When it gets cold outside and you got nobody to love  
You'll understand what I mean when I say  
There's no way we're gonna give up  
And like a little girl cries in the face of a monster that lives in her dreams  
Is there anyone out there cause it's getting harder and harder to breathe  
Is there anyone out there cause it's getting harder and harder to breathe_

_Harder to Breathe- Maroon 5  
_

"Max, did I say you could go to the bathroom?" Kyle demanded as Max sat back down at the lunch table.

Max just looked at Kyle, ignoring him.

"Just because you used to be a King doesn't mean you can just swan off anytime you want to without clearing it with me first…" Kyle went on, imagining all sorts of slights in his leader paranoia.

"Kyle, you're not in charge anymore." Max clarified.

"Oh but I am. See Mikey G isn't here…so that means I'm in charge." Kyle went on, motioning with his fish stick.

"But Maria isn't here either. So Kyle, you're back to being just a regular guy." Tess argued.

"You can't unseat me, this isn't a democracy. I am in charge!" It was a declaration, made with a puffed out chest.

"Kyle, can it. I'm trying to eat and you're ruining the experience." Alex chimed in.

"Ah, Buddha says we must-"

Max interrupted, rolling his eyes. "Attend to the needs of our body before our mind. Yeah, we know, you've said it a million times."

There was a long pause, then Kyle laughed. Isabel looked at her brother in disbelief, "Did you just quote Buddha?"

"No I quoted Kyle…"

Kyle shook his head, "No you definitely quoted Buddha. That's up two aliens who I've got following Buddha. Do you think I'll get a reward for bringing in followers, especially like from another planet?"

Tess stared at him, "Kyle do you really think Buddha claims you as a follower. I mean I know what you've got shoved under your bed, it's definitely not monkish…"

There was a pause, then several sniggers went around the table.

"Propaganda! Don't believe anything the small blonde is saying, she's out to sabotage my reign." Kyle declared, pointing fingers and shouting causing several people walking by to give him some very odd looks.

Liz rolled her eyes, "So where are Michael and Maria anyway? I mean they normally don't skip lunch for the eraser room…..Michael's pretty obsessive about making Maria eat lately."

"Maria bit it, Guerin shut it down." A voice said from behind her.

The group turned only to see Paulie paused in walking by. He shrugged self-consciously, "You talk loud, but Maria showed up in our history class and flashed a code red. Guerin shit a brick, she took it to town, not in a good way, and got subbed out. I think he said she has mono?"

"Thanks, man." Kyle said with a nod, obviously understanding the gibberish.

"We still on for shooting?" Paulie asked.

Kyle nodded, and Paulie walked off with a last wave.

"So…what actually happened, I mean did anyone understand what Paulie said because all I got was like listening to another language." Liz declared, eyeing Kyle.

Kyle nodded sagely as if this explained everything, "Of course, see this is why I'm in charge."

Alex shook his head, "No you just understand 'jock'."

Kyle made a face, "Ha ha. So what went down was, Maria showed up to Michael and Paulie's history class. She burst into tears, Michael took her out of the room and got all snarly and controlling, then she passed out and they called the nurse. Michael told the nurse Maria has mono to explain the passing red. I follow you.." Max said slowly, nodding his head as if completely agreed with the assessment.

"That's amazing, it really is like another language full of euphemisms and metaphors. I wonder what its like to hear locker room talk, I bet I wouldn't understand a single thing because of their shop talk." Tess declared awed.

"You better not understand locker room talk, young lady." Kyle warned, suddenly protective.

"Ok, let's focus on Maria here…" Alex said, motioning vaguely back to the center of the table.

"I bet he got to take her home. When Pam had mono she got to go home all the time….." Liz announced, thinking aloud.

Isabel rolled her eyes, "Mono, I mean could he have picked a worse lie, that's dreadful. Am I the only one here who sees the damage this will do to Maria's, well and Michael's if he had any, reputation?"

There was a pause, then Max reached over, patting his sister's hand. "I think that I speak for all of us when I say yes, you are the only one who cares about that."

Liz pulled out her phone, dialing the buttons quickly. It rang several times before she got an answer.

"What?" It was Michael's angry voice, the phone call obviously interrupting something.

"What happened? We just heard Maria passed out…"

"She had a flash." It was a snap.

"Is that all?" Liz asked, hearing the tension in his voice.

"Put Kyle on." Another angry snap.

Liz made a face but handed the phone over to an unsuspecting Kyle.

"Hello?" He tried, starting to get nervous.

"Did your dad release Vicky from jail?" It was harsh, angry.

"I don't know, he said he was thinking about it because he obviously didn't do it…they were going to transfer him to a loony bin." Kyle offered, praying that it was the right opinion.

"Why the hell didn't you tell me? He fucking accosted Maria in the Eraser Room."

Kyle held the phone away from his face at the blatant emotional anger and threats dripping from each word.

"I didn't know, ok? You should take that up with my dad… Is Maria ok?"

"After she stopped crying she was fine." He was quieter this time, though no less angry.

"Good. So what do we do about him?"

"Find him and have Tess mind warp him. That's an order." And the line went dead.

Kyle saluted the air, handing the phone back to Liz. "We have a Scooby mission from Commander Shaggy. Locate the human named Victor and wipe his mind to avenge our Daphne and placate our Shaggy."

Max looked over at Alex. "Translation please?"

"Find Victor and mind wipe him, because apparently he accosted Maria." Alex provided.

Tess rubbed her face, "Accost, what does that actually mean? Because knowing Michael Victor might have just looked at Maria and he's blowing it way out of proportion…."

Liz shrugged, standing, "Either way we need to fix this kid's head for our own safety. Max and I will take the 1st floor."

Kyle agreed, "Tess and I will take the gyms, and I'll call my dad and let him know the sitch."

Isabel looked over at Alex, "That leaves us with the second floor."

Kyle cracked his knuckles, "Let's roll."

………………………………………….

Maria watched Michael pace angrily back and forth. She sighed, at least he'd stopped yelling, but he still wasn't over it.

"I'm gonna fucking kill him." It was a snarl, one he'd repeated at least 10 times before.

She sighed again, repeating her answer hoping that this time it would actually get through to him.

"He was apologizing, I was just startled."

"I don't care, he shouldn't have come near you." He turned around, snapping it at her.

At least they were actually making progress, moving past repeating the same two phrases again and again.

"Michael, he doesn't matter anymore."

"He doesn't matter?" His voice was unnaturally loud for the closed space.

Apparently she'd said the wrong thing, again.

"Maria, he-"

She cut in, "I know perfectly well what he did, much better than you. But that was Fonbar, Victor is just some scared kid who got his mind taken over by an alien…"

He blinked at her, roughly running one hand through his hair. "I can't believe what I'm hearing, you're still siding with him. After all of this you still can't blame him….."

She stood up, leaving the comfort of the couch. "Michael this isn't about sides."

"Then what the hell is it about? Because it's pretty clear to me, I'm good, he's bad and you're fucking picking the bad."

He was so angry, past any point of rationality. Funny how Rath could be so cold all the time while Michael was always so hot, his emotions so near to the surface always running the show.

"I'd never pick anyone or anything over you! Don't you know that by now?" She was screaming right back, why couldn't he just see for once?

He shook his head as if to shake off a fly, as if to shake off the past. Unconsciously his hand reached up, pressing into his forehead. She knew what was happening, what had happened so many times before, but he was fighting it.

Her anger drained away, this was a stupid fight. Instead she reached out for him, "Sit down, don't fight it."

He shook his head again, woozier this time, as if he could keep the past at bay by sheer force of will. Didn't he know you can never outrun your past?

She pulled on his arm, propelling him into the couch. "Don't fight it, it'll come either way…"

He rubbed his face, still trying to keep it away, but all the same he was leaning into her as they sat. "I don't want…"

She stroked his hair, trying to encourage him to let Rath take it. "To be lost. I know, I won't let that happen, Spaceboy."

"I don't…."

His eyes drifted shut the memory taking him with a force.

Maria smiled softly as his head fell to her shoulder, she adjusted him so that his head was resting in her lap. She began to idly run her hands through his hair, hoping that wherever his mind was it was a beautiful place.

She didn't really understand why he tried to fight it, why he and Rath we're always at odds. She and Q were in tandem, she let the memories come and in return Q didn't take over nearly as often as Rath did. But Michael and Rath, they're personalities were so strong, so dominating that it was always a fight for control. Michael didn't want to give it up, and when Rath had it he never wanted to let go. But then again, Rath wasn't entirely sane either…oh he might seem it most of the time but he never really got over her death. It hurt to think, but it hurt even more to see it, and she did, through Q those few moments when they let the bond activate, those few moments in the morning when she and Michael had still been connected after waking, she could see it, could feel the instability that raged in him. And it hurt, because she knew in a way that it was all her fault.

Michael shifted in her lap, curling into her and clutching her thigh. Clutching her thigh in need, even from here, from half a century and across a galaxy later she could feel the need that was running in him. What kind of need, what kind of bond could run that strong? Whatever it was he was lost to it…

………………

"How's Tav doing?" He asked, glancing over at Zan as they walked.

Zan shrugged, not displaying nearly as emotion as he usually would have. "She's dealing, she's going to Ask about it today."

Rath nodded, that was a pretty good description of how Zan was probably doing. Either way though, he should probably ask.

"And you?"

Zan rubbed his face, "I'm just trying to focus on her but it's hard because she thinks I blame her for it…It wasn't her fault she lost the baby, it's the Gods fault. I'm just so angry, angry at them, angry at everything, but not at her…"

Rath clapped him on the back, letting his hand rest on his shoulder in a moment of comfort. "I know. That's how it is, girls get upset and we get angry."

They turned the corner, Zan glancing over. "I wonder which one is better."

He shrugged again, he would say anger but Q seemed to get over things so much quicker than he did, so he wasn't really sure.

"Dunno, but don't let it take you over, man. They're will be more babies, but only one Tav. Just tell her that, I bet it will work wonders." Gods, he was good and he knew it. But this was definitely a first, him giving girl advice to Zan.

Zan nodded looking thoughtful, "I will…Thanks. But where'd you come up with that? I mean it's not like its something the two of you have had to deal with …..unless…."

He shook his head at the sharp tones Zan had used near the end.

"Nope, not that I don't want to but we can't... No I got it because Q accidentally broke some little glass shiny thing I gave her and she got really upset so I used that analogy, total problem solver." He rolled his eyes as he told the story, idly amused.

"But mate, your woman is crazy…." Zan said, sounding for a moment, exactly like Kivar.

Rath shook his head, that was weird. It was something Kivar would say, definitely not Zan, he was to worried about offending Rath's feelings.

Zan continued on. "So are you worried about today? I mean…"

"She's not doing it." He said confidently, he'd told her no and she better listen to him.

Zan was quiet for a long time. "Rath she's the Vessel, she can't not do it."

"It's too dangerous, it might kill her. I'm not letting her do it." It was a snap, this whole thing was insane. He wasn't going to let Q do some religious ceremony after last time the Gods possessed her.

They were outside of her room now, Zan just shook his head.

"I'm not sure you can stop her."

Rath looked at him, "Wait out here."

He went in to find her smoothing the red robe out religiously as she looked in the mirror. He felt the small tic start in his cheek, the anger beginning to course through him.

"You're supposed to be in bed." It was harsher than he had meant it, more accusatory.

She turned, the idle smile dropping from her face. She drifted over to him, on long floating steps. "No, the Calling is today."

"So? You're not doing it, so that doesn't matter, you're supposed to be resting." It was angry, daring her to deny him. She couldn't do this, she'd only been able to stand up this past week and now she wanted to risk it all.

The smile was completely gone from her countenance now. "Rath, I'm doing it. That's final. I'm the Vessel, I can't not do it."

"They can get another one."

She shook her head, the braids flailing around her. "No they can't, it's my job. I'm the youngest, the most recently open channel of the 11 of us."

"No. You're also the weakest, you almost died last time the Gods took you. This will kill you, it's too dangerous." Why couldn't she see the rightness of his argument, she was going to get herself killed and he wouldn't let her.

"It's too dangerous? Rath since when has danger ever stopped you from fighting? It comes with the territory, what your asking is like me asking you to not fight… and we both know you would never do that." She was starting to get angry, her words short and snappy, the lilt missing from her voice.

"It's different."

"How?" It was a dare.

"You're a woman and I don't see why they need you anyway, I mean it's not like you have any of their gifts."

As soon as he said the words he knew he shouldn't have, but he didn't regret them, they were true. She needed to understand, she was too young, too weak, this would kill her and he couldn't protect her from it.

Her eyes darkened and her cheeks reddened.

"Out. Get out." It was a scream, accompanied by a thrown finger in the general direction of the door.

"Q-" he tried, in some sort of attempt to undo the damage.

She put her back to him, "Just get out Rath."

"You can't do this." He'd wanted to say please, but couldn't make the word come out so had just ordered her instead. But she was like him, she didn't like orders.

She kept her back to him, glancing into the mirror. Their eyes met in the reflection, her mirrored ones steely.

"And you can't stop me, so just get out."

He paused, he couldn't but he had the head of religion on his side. "But Zan can."

She whirled on him, taking the few steps between them quickly. "Why don't you want me to do this? Because you can't control it, because it scares you? Gods Rath! I'm not some little girl you can just order around and expect to follow you blindly."

"Because you might die." It was just as intense, just as loud, he didn't care how much of his true feelings it let out. He couldn't let her do this, couldn't let her risk herself like that.

"You might die everyday, I deal with it. I want to do this, I want to help Antar." Her voice was soft, laced with her own fears for him as she turned away.

He turned away, walking out of the room. There was nothing left to say, she was practically committing suicide, he only had one choice left.

"You have to stop her. I can't let her do this." He said, not caring how desperate he sounded to Zan.

Zan shook his head but another voice cut him off. "She has to."

Rath shook his head again, glaring at the Oracle, obviously come to collect her. He was wearing the male version of the red robes Q had been wearing.

"It'll probably kill her." He couldn't stop the intensity from leaking into his voice.

The Oracle didn't move, no foreknowledge burning in his gaze. "It might. It might not but she's the Vessel and Antar needs her."

He paused, his eyes piercing. "You're her Asker."

He felt like he'd been punched. Oh Gods, no. They were going to make him kill her, they were going to make him responsible for killing the love of his life.

"No." It was a denial, he didn't know they were prepicked. He couldn't do this, Antar or not, he couldn't ask a question and watch as she burned out.

Arhal nodded, "Yes. You'll Ask and she'll bring forth the Answer."

He shook his head, this wasn't happening. He looked to Zan for some sort of denial, some sort information that this was all a joke.

"I won't Ask anything." It was a decision, if he didn't ask, she couldn't go into the trance and die….

A shudder ran through Arhal causing Rath's blood to run cold.

"What happens if I refuse to ask a question?" It was a demand, he had to know.

"She'll die. I mean, nobody has never not Asked, but it would almost guarantee her death. If she goes into the trance without a question, it'll kill her and since she's the Vessel probably all of us along with her." His voice was soft, haunted with possibilities.

Rath rubbed his face, this was a nightmare. She was going to do this stupid ceremony with her limited strength and probably kill herself and he would have to help her do it.

She came out of her room, the one next to his, the one she might never see again. Her face was pale, he could see the fear burning under the serenity of her gaze even though she was avoiding his eyes like the plague.

Arhal smiled at her, their matching red robes flowing in the light. "Are you ready, pet?"

She nodded quietly. He idly reached out, adjusting the circlet on her head and touching her cheek with another light smile. The casual touch caused something to twist and burn in Rath's gut, he knew there was nothing there but all the same he hated watching other people touch her.

Arhal glanced at them, "We'll see you later, we've got a world to change and prophecies to bring forth."

Zan nodded, "Good luck in the abyss."

Arhal nodded again, Q still silent by his side, still avoiding his gaze carefully. They turned, walking away down the hallway.

Panic hit him, crushing his heart, squeezing his breath away. He couldn't let it end like this, what if this was the last time he saw her? They were angry, mad, he couldn't let her walk away from him.

He looked around the hallway, there was nobody but the four of them.

"Q-" It was a strangled cry as he strode after her.

She turned, surprise and hope covering her features as she stepped towards him. He hurried forward, closing the space between them desperately. His hands reached out of their own accord, cupping her face and turning it up towards him.

"I-" he started, but the words were so hard to say, but he wanted her to know so bad.

She smiled up at him, hearing what he couldn't say aloud. "I know, you don't have to say it."

He nodded once, feelings rushing through him, and then he was crushing his lips to hers letting it all flow between them. He didn't care that they were in public, that Zan and Arhal were just watching, he just couldn't let her go.

She pulled away, trying to escape his arms so that she could leave. But he wasn't ready yet, keeping his arms locked around her and letting his face drop into her hair. He inhaled deeply, taking in the spice of the tobasc and the sweetness of the narka as if his life depended on it. After a long moment of just clutching her he felt Ozma's cool icy control rushing in, giving him the strength to let go.

Giving him the strength to watch as she left, watch as she clutched his hands until she was out of reach, their outstretched hands finally breaking apart. Watch as she looked over her shoulder at him, her hair flowing out behind him as their fingers finally broke contact. He held her eyes all the way down the hallway, as Arhal propelled her along as she stared back at him.

She went around the corner and he slit his wrist.

It felt good, it felt real, the pain grounding him, bringing him back to where he needed to be. He looked over at Zan, no longer feeling like his entire world was ending, he was back in control.

Zan looked down, at the blood dripping from his wrist to the blade he still clutched in his hand. No censorship showed in his gaze, just an odd type of understanding, of kinship. He wouldn't comment on it, he never had.

"Let's go watch."

It was all he said, not mentioning the bloody wrist, not mentioning the dramatic goodbye, not mentioning how hard it must be to watch her leave and not be able to do anything about it.

They walked in silence, the pit of dread growing larger with every step he took. He didn't want to do this, didn't want to be a part of this Calling. Didn't care that it was how they got prophecies, didn't care how it affected Antar's future, just wanted to see her safe, back in her little bed getting better.

They made it to the chamber where a priest handed both of them the traditional black robes of the Askers to change into. Rath looked at the pool of dark material in his hand and had the urge to light it on fire because if he didn't have a robe they couldn't do the ceremony….

Zan nudged him again, talking softly as they went into the changing room, "they have extras."

He made a face, but started to change into the black garb anyway, looping the robes over the dark pants. Out of habit, despite Zan's censoring eyes, he transferred his weapons, finding the best places to hold them in the unfamiliar clothing.

"What are you Asking?" Zan asked, setting his crown aside.

Rath shrugged, he hadn't really thought about it to much. He should have, considering there was only one Calling every decade and that what he asked got a direct answer from the Gods but that didn't matter to him.

"Rath." Zan was surprised, annoyed, disappointed. But what was new about that?

"What are you Asking?" He asked, glaring at one of the citizen Askers who'd been selected by lottery.

Zan shot him another warning glare, 'the don't antagonize or threaten or scare the people of Antar' look. He ignored it.

"If Antar will be truly united during my reign."

Rath nodded, that was good. He should probably ask something about the military then. He was at a slight disadvantage, he'd never been to a Calling before. The last one had taken place a decade ago and he'd been in training, and the one before that he'd just been an infant. So in all reality he had no idea what to expect, what was expected of him, what would happen to the 11 Chosen as they went into the abyss to get the answers..

The Granal came in, newly instated of a few months after he'd locked the last one in the dungeon. Rath didn't like this one, not for any particular reason or personal issues like the last one, but because he was making, no letting Q do this.

"I welcome you on the Gods behalf to the 380th Calling of Antar's history. Your role in this will be that of the Askers. You will file in single file, stand in front of your Answerer facing them. The Chosen you're paired with will first cut your palm and then their own and mix the blood. Once the connection has been established they will go into the trance and command you to Ask. At the same time you will all ask your questions, then one by one they will fall into the abyss. You will all move away, back into the background and listen for your answers. You are not to interfere in any way with them, not to touch them or try and break the connection no matter what happens."

His eyes had been on Rath the last part, holding him and commanding him to obey. He stared back, he'd never listened to a Granal before and wouldn't start now. If something happened to her he was going to step in, Gods be damned or not.

The Granal smiled again, "Is everyone ready?"

There were various nods and sounds of agreement throughout the room.

He nodded again, slightly nervous as the time got closer. "Alright, let's collect the ladies and I'll put you all in order and we'll start."

The next few minutes were full of shuffling and rearranging until eventually Rath was placed at the very end of the line with special instructions to walk into the circle to stand in front of Q, as opposed to following everyone else.

The drums started up and they started to file slowly out walking in time to the beat. The room was large and circular, almost arena like, with a raised pillow top dais in the center where the Chosen were standing. At first he had no idea why they were on a padded dais but then he realized that if one of them started to burn out they would fall and apparently the First Order didn't want to risk accidental death by a cracked skull.

Regardless of the reasons for the pillow top he felt his stomach start to clench as they approached it, as they came closer to the circle of 10 surrounding her lone figure in the center. The people in front of him fanned out, encircling the circle of Chosen, while he slipped in, walking to face her.

He stopped a foot in front of her, staring at her. He'd never seen her like this, seen her perfectly composed, perfectly serious, perfectly happy. She was in her element, the same way he was when he fought, and he'd never gotten to see that before. This was past the glimpses he'd seen when he watched her sing, past the joy at festivities, this was it.

And it terrified him.

She smiled, almost mechanically, as if to let him know that she was alright, that this wasn't hurting her in any way. But it held no reassurance for him, only a reminder of how mechanical she'd been during the Possession, of how it hadn't been Q any more, she'd just been a shell. And how the power that had burned in her had eaten her alive from the inside out, leaving the weak, half crazy girl he had left.

She blinked and somehow he knew the other 10 Chosen had blinked with her, that they were beginning to fall into the trance. The small fidgets, the shifting of feet, stopped leaving her and all of them perfectly still.

As one he heard the smooth shih of the ceremonial knives being unsheathed. Seeing her holding the dagger made his own hand twitch, he wanted his own knife, he wanted to be the one with the sharp object because he'd seen Q hold knives before, and every single time her spastic movements had terrified him for her own safety. But this time was different, her grip was strong, missing the awkward unsure grip she'd always had before. It was unsettling, just another reminder of how much it wasn't her anymore.

She reached out, drawing his left hand out in front of her. In one swift controlled motion she made a small cut on his palm, then quickly repeated the procedure on her own hand.

He watched the blood well up on her palm and it angered him irrationally. She shouldn't have to hurt herself, shouldn't have to make herself bleed for this. Blood and pain was part of his life, it was his life in a way, but it shouldn't be involved in hers.

She grabbed his hand, pressing their bloody palms together and he felt the connection immediately. The blood connection springing to life between them, touching their souls in a way only blood could. The blood bond was the strongest of them all, keeping and building connections already there, connections of the body, connections of the mind, keeping people alive after they should have died. He'd been through it so many times before with the Elites, countless times during training with Kivar.

But this was different, the bond was changing, her mind was slipping away to be replaced by something else, something strong and pure. The connection was burning now, the other power strong and burning in it's Godly purity, he tried to shy away from that light that could see into him, that could read his soul, read his ambitions, read his future. But he couldn't escape.

"Ask."

It was a demand made simultaneously by 11 voices, 11 voices flowing in tandem, in matching rhythm and complimentary tones all surrounding and supporting her golden one.

It was his turn and he had no idea what to Ask, he just wanted to ask something simple that she could easily get the answer too. But on the other hand he didn't want a trivial question in case something went wrong, because then she'd die for something stupid.

"Will I be betrayed?" He asked, it echoed in a jumble of the other eleven questions being asked. And he was scared, terrified while he asked it, he didn't want to ask it, didn't give a damn about the answer.

He felt her eyes piercing into him, the power behind them reaching farther, seeing the questions he wasn't voicing aloud. Reading them, reading what he really wanted to know, deciding amongst them.

He looked away, trying to break the contact, but he couldn't escape it. All the same he saw Arhal's eyes turn white, then the Chosen to his left. And so it went, a beat between them as they went into trance in a creepy glowing eyed order. It was disturbing watching their eyes light up in order as the Gods took them into the fold, even creepier as it went all the way around until it was Q's turn.

Her eyes turned white, and she brightened, glowing slightly with the power gathering in her system. She was the last of the 11 illuminated figures, a disturbing center.

And then it got worse.

She blinked and when she opened her eyes they were blood red.

He held his ground, despite the flash of fear that hit him. This was entirely too creepy and entirely too real. He looked around at the other Chosen, but their eyes were all still white.

This is what they meant by the Vessel, why she was standing in the center, why she was glowing brighter. Why she would burn out faster..

A small hand movement from the Granal and all of the Askers were moving away, leaving the circle. He didn't want to leave her, he didn't want to walk out of this circle to where he was excluded, where he wasn't involved. He didn't want to leave her all alone in the middle, didn't want to be where he couldn't catch her if she fell.

But he had to go and after one look at her eyes he understood that. This wasn't Q, this wasn't someone he needed to protect, this force, this burning in her gaze was something he needed protection from.

He moved away, slipping out of the circle and into the stands with everyone else. He moved over so that he was standing with Zan, Tav and Lonnie. Family was comfort and he had a feeling he might need to draw on their strength throughout this process.

"What happens now?" his voice seemed unnaturally loud in the silence, but nobody seemed to care.

Tav's voice was subdued, still not entirely over the loss of the child she'd just found out she'd been carrying. "The Gods give the answers to the Vessel and she passes them to the other Chosen. Then they bring forth the prophecies after all of the questions have been answered."

"How does she pass them?" this was sounding worse and worse to his ears.

There was a pause, then Lonnie looked over at him with slanted, amused eyes.

"Watch and see." Her voice was silky, amused with something he didn't know and probably didn't want to.

He didn't like her answer but he focused his attention back to the circle anyway at the first sign of movement. The oldest of the eleven, and one of the three girls, moved towards Q in a fluid stately gate. She reached out, gently embracing Q's smaller form in a grandmotherly hug.

He didn't understand what was going on, why were they hugging? But just as quickly as it began she broke eye contact moving away. She drifted back to her spot in the circle, her blank eyes turning outwards to the watching crowd.

"The crops will yield." Her voice was sure, the answer set in stone.

Rath heard a whoosh of relief, an excited breath from her Asker. Apparently it had been a good answer.

The other girl moved forward towards the center. She hugged Q tightly, kissing her cheek in the same way he'd seen Lonnie and Tav do so many times. It was sisterly, it was best friends, and he was still confused.

They broke contact, the older Chosen moving back to her spot in the circle. Her voice was equally as certain, equally ambiguous, "No."

Tav's hand tightened on Zan's visibly, painfully. He glanced over, seeing the devastation on her face as Zan wrapped an arm around her, drawing her to him. He turned away, the moment was too private to watch, the pain, the lost hope too prominent to see. It wasn't really his business, he knew Tav was asking about children but right now, in these moments where Q was risking her life he couldn't bring himself to care.

He turned his focus back to the ceremony in front of him, though in reality it had never left. He couldn't not focus on her, he didn't think that was physically possible.

Jonreh moved forward almost eagerly going up to Q's frozen form. Rath wasn't sure what to expect, maybe a brotherly hug or handshake. But that wasn't what he got.

Jonreh's arm wrapped around her waist and his other hand going to cup her cheek in a gross parody of how Rath had held her just an hour before. Then his lips were on Q's, not in a short chaste kiss, not in a brotherly kiss, but in a lover's embrace.

The lamp next to him exploded, his anger and his jealousy exploding outwards in a fit he couldn't control or deny. Just as quickly he opened himself to Ozma drawing in the icy cool control to soothe the burning pain that was eating his gut open.

"What the hell?" his voice was angry and surprised but infinitely controlled, in volume and modulation.

Lonnie glanced over with a sly smile and looked away again. Zan was more forthcoming, more concerned, "They won't remember any of it."

He didn't care whether she was going to remember it or not, he didn't want these supposedly celibate males mauling her. Actually if he was going to be perfectly honest he didn't want them within 20 feet of her, and didn't really want anyone else at all besides himself touching her.

Jonreh moved away going back to his point in the circle stating his declaration strongly, "The fires will rampage."

Rath didn't give a damn whether the fires would rampage or not, just that Jonreh stayed at his little point in the circle as far away from Q as humanly possible. But it didn't matter what he wanted, there was already another white eyed Chosen moving forward. He started kissing her, starting from the same point Jonreh had.

He wanted to tear his eyes away so he wouldn't have to see this, wouldn't have to remember watching this, but at the same time he couldn't. He had to see, had to watch every moment in a form of sick self torture.

"Why is he touching her?" His voice was calm, controlled, matching the ice inside. It didn't hurt to watch anymore, just made him feel emptier as each second passed, filled only with the queasiness at the depravity of the acts.

Tav lifted her head from Zan's shoulder, her normally light voice subdued. "It's how the knowledge is passed. Everything is going in through the Vessel and she passes it to the other Chosen in an act of love, a physical connection because their minds are already full."

She paused, looking at him, probably seeing an uncomprehendingly dull look at the words act of love. She sighed, trying again.

"It has to happen in an act of love or an act of hate because they're the strongest bonds between people. We all know sex is the ultimate expression of love. And the stronger, more complicated or more important message the greater the act."

He slipped the knife into his hand, he hated the sound of this. It was sick, it was twisted, it was disgusting and it was one more reason why he hated the First Order. It was just one more way they took everything from their Chosen, even taking away the choices that got made with their bodies. And to keep them in the dark about it, he knew for a fact Q had no real concept of so many things, and to have these people, her family, these men who were like her brothers and her fathers and her uncles, molesting her while none of them knew it…..It was possibly the worst thing he'd ever seen, worse than the torture, worse than the death of children, worse than anything he'd ever experienced.

"Do they ever actually….." He couldn't even say it with all the control in the world, could barely think it over the nausea that was threatening to rise as he watched this other kiss his girlfriend's neck.

There was a long silence as the other three looked back and forth at each other. The longer the silence went on the more it twisted in him, churned in the emptiness that ran so deep in him.

Finally Lonnie spoke, slightly amused, slightly embarrassed. "Yes, don't you remember history lessons when we were little?"

He shook his head, he hadn't paid attention when he'd bothered to go to lessons, she should know that.

She looked slightly disapproving now, but he still didn't care. He just wanted an answer to his question.

"It's how the Royal line of Karr got started. Fourteen generations ago, when they told the prophecy of us, the Vessel was female and there was a consummation. She was impregnated and the baby was Ransen."

Ransen, the King who united Antar and brought them into the first golden age. Great, this was just getting better and better. He was either going to have to watch his girl die, or get raped and carry someone else's kid.

He slit his wrist again.

Arhal was with Q in the center by this point and watching him run his hands over her body and his lips attack her neck Rath wanted to puke. This was literally incest, this was dreadful and he couldn't look away.

Someone shoved him from behind, throwing him off balance. Angrily he glanced over his shoulder only to see Kivar's golden gaze.

"Let go of the power, you're about to blow."

He turned away, focusing on himself for one second. Kivar was right, he was full of it, full of the life energy. He must have been drawing it in unconsciously, reacting to the threat of these men touching her, must have been drawing it in to keep the icy control that he was running on.

And he couldn't let it go. No matter how hard he tried, it wouldn't release, it wouldn't go away, it just clung to him.

But he couldn't focus on himself for long, his gaze searing back to the padded dais where Arhal was lowering her slowly to the ground still completely wrapped around her.

"It's like rape." Disgust was dripping off of his voice, covering the words in the truth he felt unconditionally. This was taking away her choices of the flesh, all of their choices, and it sickened him. How could the First Order keep them all so in the dark about everything, then turn around and have them intimate with each other without their ever knowing it?

"So it is, but welcome to religion." Kivar's voice was soft, equally as disgusted but more accepting that Rath would ever be.

Arhal moved away, almost appearing relieved despite that control that rocked him. As the Oracle he'd always had so much more control during possessions, Rath had seen him where he coexisted with the Gods in his body rather than just being a vessel. But no disgust rocked his features, just a type of sadness, a type of yearning that he would have never seen and would probably see again because Arhal had almost as much control as he did…

"United you won't be, but together you'll fall." His voice was certain, the white eyes flicking to Zan, to the group that surrounded the King.

Well wasn't this a positive day.

Q's slight form was trembling now, fine exhausted tremors barely visible from the distance that separated them, but he saw anyway. There was no way he'd could miss it, he was dreading this, dreading the first sings of burnout.

One of the last four males was moving forward, beginning to maul her trembling form like his life depended on it.

Lonnie glanced over, "I thought the Vessel was supposed to initiate the contact."

Tav lifted her head again with a shrug. "Not if the Vessel has a…….."

She trailed off, glancing at Rath for a second before picking up her explanation in a stronger voice to cover her lapse.

"Quite often on Kathor the others initiate it if the mind of the Vessel can't or won't willingly join themselves with another."

She'd meant to say mate when she trailed off and it hung heavy in the air between all of them, right now, he didn't care, he couldn't. Their future was too uncertain to worry about who knew and didn't know. Mate…was that what they were? He wasn't sure, emotionally yes but physically no. They were so much more than friends but less than lovers. These men in front of him were blowing away the boundaries he'd so carefully kept between himself and Q, they were touching her in ways he'd never dared to and it might have rankled in him if the ice freezing his veins hadn't been so strong, so unbreakable.

Watching Zuri run his hand up her leg as he lay on top of her Rath did the only thing he could to survive; he fell into the emptiness. He fell into the nothingness that was running into him, letting himself sink into the familiar iciness he'd existed in for years until she came with her warm open heart and melted it away. And it didn't feel good, it felt wrong like after having heard music going back to a world of silence, but it felt safe. It was a cocoon he was familiar with, an insulation between himself and the surroundings he couldn't control, a net of control to keep him from realizing that he was completely helpless.

And here from inside the winter that ran in him he could watch, undisturbed, unfeeling and with only the anger that was always there. Anger at the world, anger at a world who would send off little boys to become monsters, anger at a world who would teach torture as a life choice, anger at a world who let its Gods burn out those they chose to use, anger at a world who would leave her half crazy and terribly weak, anger at a world that would never give her a break, anger at a world who would let him fall into a hopeless doomed love, anger at a world that was slowly killing them, anger at a world that would use her body as it's own tool…

Kivar shoved him again, harder this time, hard enough to make him stumble forward.

"Release the power before you kill yourself." It was an angry hiss this time.

Rath glanced around, realizing for the first time that people had unknowingly edged away from him, edged away from the raw power burning in his system.. But he still couldn't let go, and he didn't want too, he needed this power for something, could feel it's importance in the desperate tinge in the flavor of it.

Q was sitting up now, her arms shaking almost madly and climbing unsteadily to her feet with that innate grace that she always possessed even as her robes were falling back down recovering her legs.

And all he could even think of was that at least she was ok, still pure, maybe with a few hickeys on her neck that would get healed as soon as possible. Was he horrible, was it jealousy or possession on his part or just a general good will towards women? He had a feeling, more of a certain knowledge, that it was his own possessiveness of her, his own possessive tendencies that were stemming the relief, that if anyone was going to touch her or teach her about that he wanted it to be him.

His thoughts drifted away as her red eyes blinked her head turning mechanically to find him in the crowd. Their eyes met, the purity and power of the Gods burning through her and into him.

"The flame once started cannot be extinguished, but the candle that holds it may break."

He had no idea what she, it, was referring to. He was pretty sure it had nothing to do with the question he'd asked, but probably more to do with his and Q's relationship but he didn't have time to ponder it. It was prophecy time.

Her figure burned brighter. Whatever futures she saw enlightening her form in an effort to burn its way out of her.

"Three will rise and Four will fall,

Four will rise and the Fifth be waiting

Old dreams born anew, chances where there were none.

Old enemies and new, always forced to hide.

A prince as a pauper; a Blessed as a server.

A death given in love; a life lived in hate.

The sacrifice once made always holds true.

The dream once lost always haunts.

The trust once broken never to be had.

A love once given never to escape.

A world to remain broken until all is home."

There was a long pause, only broken by the furious writing of the priests on the sacred tablets. And then it was over, all of the Chosen blinking, their eyes going back to normal. Some dropped to the floor immediately, burned out, other staggered forward confused but all had immediate medical attention.

Q crumpled immediately, collapsing into a limp doll on the ground as the ones who were still on their feet staggered forward to her. He couldn't for the life of him see what was happening, why they were gathering around her like that but he could feel the desolation in his gut.

Jonreh turned away from the crowd around her, his face absolutely devastated; a clear picture of the finality of the situation. Another grim face followed, the sadness etched into their face.

Oh no, oh Gods no. Oh no. Oh no. Oh no. Oh please no. Please, please please no. No No no no nononononononnoNoNonononNono.

Rath was a proud man, he'd never begged anyone for anything in his life before this moment. But in this horrible moment of uncertainty, this one horrible instant he begged every God he knew of and those he didn't for this not to be happening.

Zan turned towards him reaching out, but he pushed away. Running forward up onto the dais despite the hands that tried to stop him, pushing his way to her limp from, shoving anyone and everything out of his way with a desperation he'd never felt before.

The Chosen around her moved away at his coming, slipping back into a silent circle framing them as he dropped to his knees next to her. She wasn't dead, thank the Gods, but she was gone. Her face was slack and her eyes were burning the unholy white that the others had been, no longer the red of the Vessel, just the haunting white emptiness of a broken toy. She had no sense of self, no idea of the live she'd lived, she was just an empty body with her mind completely gone, burned away from harnessing the power.

It would have been easier if she'd just died, but no she was left as an empty body. As a zombie he would go and visit until the body finally gave out, hoping against hope that once her eyes would look back and see him.

He glanced up for a moment, his eyes meeting Arhal's as the Granal held him up. Those eyes held only devastation, a horrible type of lonely pity, but also the tiniest seed of hope.

He clung to that hope, used it to twist the power burning in him into something. Used it as a reason to let in what was pushing at his mind, used it as the one and only reason that he was able to let go of his control. To give up his body, his power to this holy feeling in him that was asking, that was wanting to take.

And he lost himself to it, knew intuitively that his blackened eyes had gone white that this wasn't him anymore, that what happened next he was only a vessel for.

His lips were on hers, an act of love to bind the vessels they were together, as his memories of her flowed out of him and into her. The empty canvas of her body was kissing him back but the part of him that was still Rath couldn't feel her anywhere, couldn't find the Q part that he'd come so accustomed to knowing. So what was running him pushed harder, his lips sliding down to her neck as his hands started to move across her desperately, as one of her hands started to pull at the tie holding his robe shut. The information, the power running between them increased, rushing into her memories, little moments of her life flowing out of him like a warming fire and into her mind. But it wasn't enough and they were still moving ever closer, his shirt getting lost as his hand slid up her leg trying to form a stronger connection.

But the Rath part of him, the small part that was coexisting with this raging flowing, burning, pure, untouched power was denying this. Was rebelling against the greatest connection, the final act of love, was holding back keeping them from going where the power pushed. Keeping things at lower point, at a tamer point limited to scorching kisses and burning friction. The Rath part of him was looking for the connection it knew was there, searching in the burning power for the small link to the Q half of the equation.

And eventually, after a long flaming search it found it, the Q flowed back into her in a fit of joy, in golden moment of truth and they were freed from the burning.

He came back to himself in the blink of an eye, the burning disappearing leaving him exhausted, shaky and weak as he looked down at her. She was looking back up, her mirrored eyes completely confused and tired.

"Rath?" her voice quaked with intense weakness, wrapped in the loss of confusion.

'You're ok." It was a joyous exhale as he propped himself up, pulling himself off of her.

"Why aren't you wearing a shirt?" her query was confused, slightly embarrassed at his half naked form, as he pulled her up.

She looked around at all the people, managing an even more confused "What happened?"

And then she passed out, which in this case was probably best for everyone in the room. She was already starting to burn up, the physical side effects of power burnout hitting her system like it had already hit so many of the other Chosen.

He looked around, lifting her light form easily despite his exhaustion, most of the Chosen looked exhausted, confused, though they were eyeing him warily, almost hostility with angry protective expressions gracing their faces.

He didn't care.

He started to walk, just like he'd done last time this had happened to her. It was all so familiar, but this time he wasn't as freaked, he was calm enough to hear the whispers that were already starting to swirl as he walked by.

"Did you see what he did?"

"Has that ever happened before?"

"He really used to be a God, didn't he?"

"How is he still standing? He was the Vessel for a moment…I thought only the Chosen could do that…"

"The Gods must favor him…"

He just kept walking, carrying her limp form, he knew he looked hard, stony and icy but that was just how he was. He always put up the front because if people didn't know how upset or tired you were they didn't mess with you.

They were about halfway back to his wing when she started to stir in his arms, struggling in her sleep, lost in delirium mumbling to herself.

"Not my baby! You can't take my son…"

Rath glanced over in slight alarm at the Granal, but he seemed serene. He smiled, shaking his head slightly, "It's just the delirium. It's good that she's already in it, it means the fever will break soon, either tonight or early tomorrow."

He nodded, readjusting her weight as her fingers clutched at his arms muttering about keeping secrets.

"No you mustn't tell, nobody can ever know…."

He glanced down, slightly alarmed, wondering what else she would say but she was silent, only starting to burn in his arms. She was so hot to carry now, almost unbearable, but maybe that was because he was so tired too, his own rising body heat combining and mingling with hers.

"Shih, baby. Daddy will be home soon."

Was it his baby she was hushing in her delirious mind? Was he the daddy in whatever fantasy that was playing out for her? He hoped so.

They made it to his wing, he walked in deposited her on the bed and backed into the corner as the healers rushed forward. They started to tend to her, checking her temperature and medicating her and he slipped away, there was nothing left he could do.

He got into his own room and shut the door before he let the shakes take him. Slowly, trembling madly, shaking completely out of control he put his back to the wall and slid slowly down. He sat that way for a few moments, trembling and shivering on the floor before the door opened.

He looked up exhausted only to find his mother.

"Oh, Rath." Her voice was tired, an exhale of pride for him and the soft mothering love she'd always shown him.

She pulled him up, pushing him at his bed and forcing his shaking form into it in the same gentle way she'd done when his akino had hit. She'd always been so gentle with him, no matter how rough or rude he'd been, always keeping that same infinite patience as she took care of him.

She fixed the covers around him, fussing them up around his shoulders and fluffing the pillows. He curled onto his side, pushing at the covers weakly. She pulled them back up, sitting down on the edge of the bed smoothing his hair back from his forehead.

"Don't fight it, you're burning out, baby. Just let it come.." Her voice was soothing, seemingly undisturbed by the violent shaking of his body.

He shook his head weakly, feeling the screams in her throat a second before he heard them ripping through the air, echoing through the walls. She was screaming bloody murder, completely confused and lost to the hysteria of the fever.

"No... No you've got to let me go. The Calling is today, I have to go!" Q's voice was loud, frantic, followed by the sounds of a struggle and the soothing voices trying to assure her that the Calling had taken place.

His mother was looking at the adjoining door worriedly, before turning her attention back to him. She started to stroke his hair again, making the soothing clucking noises and holding his shoulders back as he tried to sit up.

"She's fine."

But she wasn't, her frantic attempts were still echoing with the sounds of restraints being applied to the bed and her loud angry denials getting stronger. She wanted out, she wanted to go to the Calling, not knowing it had already taken place and it hurt to hear, hurt to know that he couldn't go to her. He'd always been the one there during the hysteria, always been the one she'd wanted, the one who'd been able to calm her down. But now he was a shaky mess and they were strapping her to a bed.

He tried to sit up again, but his mother's restraining arms were there. "I'll go check on her."

He nodded, shivering madly. She got up going into the next room as he curled himself into a tighter ball, the odd images of what had happened superimposing themselves into his mind.

His mother came back in, taking her vacated place. "She's fine, they've calmed her down and her fever is controlled."

"She….I….so wrong…I took.." He couldn't even form the thoughts, let alone the words. It was all coming out in an odd honest guilt wracked jumble from his exhausted state.

She was starting to stroke the hair back from his forehead again, just like she'd always done when he was little after the nightmares.

"You didn't do anything wrong, baby. You brought her back, you saved her."

He shook his head, turning his face into the pillow.

She reached out, turning his face out of the pillow and back to facing her. "She won't remember any of it. It's fine, you need to rest."

"How is he?" It was the Granal's voice and shuffling of feet from the doorway.

Rath buried his face in his pillow again, he didn't want him here. He didn't want anyone to see him like this.

"He's got the shakes." It was his mother's calm tones.

"He's in good shape then. Rath, I wanted to thank you. You did something that you never should have had to do, you took the Gods into you, let them run you to save our Q. She means so much to all of us, to me."

He didn't like how everyone had started calling her Q, he had coined it, it had been his nickname for her. And they stole it, made it into her own name. He didn't want their thanks, didn't like the tones of his voice as he talked about family and how much she meant to this other. She meant so much more to him than she ever would, she ever could to anyone else….

"Go away." It was a mutter, he didn't want effusive thanks, he wanted to shake out his lack of power in peace.

"Rath needs to sleep…" It was his mother, softly rushing the Granal out of the room and returning to his side.

"Go to sleep…" She urged, turning off the lights and adding another blanket to his bed.

He slept and his dreams were confused, hot and twisted broken only by a sharp stabbing pain every time he tried to wake.

He sat up slowly, feeling unfamiliarly groggy. He looked around the room in confusion, there was all sorts of random items scattered around; flowers, weapons, baked goods, material and other things he didn't even recognize.

"Who died?" he muttered, wondering why his bedroom looked like a wake had taken place while he slept.

"Come eat, your probably starving." It was his mom jogging his memory of exactly why she was there.

He stood quickly moving towards the door. His mother intercepted him, pointing at the table. "Q's fine and you're not going to see her until you've eaten something."

Muttering he sat down, "How long did I sleep?"

She started piling food onto the plate, staring intently at his face for a moment and pursing her lips before answering. "2 days."

"2 days!" It was a disbelieving snap, that was not possible. He'd only had the shakes, he hadn't been spiking a fever or falling into the delirium.

His mother was guiltily silent, causing his eyes to snap up. "You were given tranquilizers."

"What! By who?" Now he was angry, nobody had any right to be messing with his body like that, keeping him asleep.

She sat down at the table with him, reaching out for one of his hands. "Now Rath.."

"Who?" Somebody would pay for this.

She was silent a long moment, reaching over to add more food to his plate.

"Your father."

He set his fork down, still angry but not surprised. "Of course, he'd never miss a chance to kick me while I'm down."

"Rath it's not like that. He did it to help you…" Her voice was earnest, reaching out to try and make him understand.

"Really? Funny, I'm not seeing the connection between tranquilizer darts and paternal love.."

"Rath he had to do it. You were fine about an hour after I put you to sleep and there are already enough rumors. This world can't handle strength like that, can't accept people who don't fall within normal limitations. He didn't want you up and fine when everyone brought their gifts and sacrifices to the participants…it would have just been too much. You stepping in and Channeling is already pushing the far side of accepted boundaries, people can only be thankful if you look like your suffering the same way all of the other Chosen did."

He snorted, strength was what people respected, it was all he had some days.

She shook her head again, motioning for him to keep eating. "Being strong is one thing, people respect that, but being too far above everyone else brings out the pitchforks. Your father did what he thought was best for you, just like he's always done."

He snorted again, what his father thought was best for Rath was what was best for himself.

"I know things have been rough between you two but he really does love you.."

He looked up in disbelief. "Yeah, he's really great at showing it. He sold me to the army when I was 8 and now he's stabbing me with tranquilizers while I sleep. He's a grade A dad…"

She reached out with a tissue shaking her head as she wiped at something on his face, he batted her hand away he wasn't four anymore.

"Don't be sarcastic darling, it doesn't suit you. Is that why you and your father barely talk, because you think he sold you into the army?"

He snorted, "Madra, he told me he did."

She shook her head again almost sadly, "No. Your father didn't sell you anywhere, he tried to prevent it. He didn't want you to have to follow the same path he did, he wanted you to be something else like an artist. But it wasn't our choice to make, it was Antar's, it was premade and so you went."

He rubbed his face, everything was so messed up right now, his whole image of his father was going askew. He didn't have time to mess with his messed up family relations.

"Fabulous." Was all he said as he started to eat again, as upset as he ever could be nothing could keep him from his mother's cooking.

"Madra, you've been to Callings before right?"

"A few."

He put his fork down, some thoughts were bothering him. "They're horrible. Q said she was the Vessel because she was the youngest….what if she'd been sent a few months earlier. Would she have been the Vessel then, when she was just a little girl?"

"Probably."

She must have seen the disgusted look on his face because she shook her head, amused. "Oh baby you don't think they would….. oh you do. Rath it's completely different when the Vessel is a child, they play with their hair, tickle them or rock them. It's different when the Vessel is old too, it's just the act of love depends on the age…."

"Why couldn't they have done that with Q?" He was angry, anguished.

She was quiet for a moment, looking at him. "Because she's a woman not a little girl."

"She hasn't had her akino yet." It was a snap, if everyone was going to tell him that she was just a child they should treat her like one.

A ghost of a smile touched his mother's features. "And has that stopped you? Akino or not she's a young woman, an attractive one at that, and the easiest way to form the connection is well it is what it is."

"It's not fair, there should be another way. You saw what they did to her, it's just wrong." He shook his head.

"The world isn't fair, your training wasn't fair. Religion may preach harmony and love, but it is not a pure beautiful thing. It's savage, it's roots come from sacrifice. The Callings weren't always like this. In the beginning the bond wasn't formed in an act of love, they thought that the acts of hate were stronger."

"What did they do?"

She looked slightly ill. "The First Order would make the Chosen hurt each other, the Vessel normally ended up dying from the wounds. But that was back when Antar was just a group of fighting tribes. This is the best way they've found to get the prophecies, the least damaging with the loss of memory."

"Then why do I remember it? I mean I got channeled."

She bit her lip, unsure, it made him slightly uncomfortable; her not having all of the answers. "I don't know. Maybe because for you it's worth remembering, maybe because it's something you needed to see."

He was quiet, he wished he hadn't. He started to eat again, desperately trying to block it all out.

She must have sensed a change in the subject because she poured him more juice smiling. "I like her."

"Like who?" he wasn't really listening, why was it women always had to talk all the time while he was obviously busy eating?

"Q. She's very sweet." This caused his eyes to snap upwards.

Then it caused him to shake his head, Q and sweet… Yeah she was sweet, like that kitten he'd given her, if the kitten had been stuffed with gunpowder. But he loved it anyway, loved the stupid fights over nothing because they both had short fuses and loved the makeup kisses even better.

But he wasn't about to say that and get yelled at. So he just nodded, "You went to see her?"

She nodded, "She woke up yesterday and I decided to visit."

At least she was awake. "How is she?"

"She was doing fine, a bit tired, but everyone is still wiped out. Rath if I give you personal advice are you going to shut down?"

He shrugged, if he was going to get personal advice it might as well be from his mother. She'd never hold anything he said against him or blackmail him.

"Like I said, I like her. I approve of her and I think you should marry her."

He froze, he couldn't believe his ears. She knew, well of course she knew, she'd known at least since Q's possession and probably before that because mothers always know. But he'd never expected her to talk about it, just to kind of be there.

"I can't."

"Why not? Is this because you're engaged to Vilandra?" Vilandra, always Vilandra and never Lonnie…

"I thought you approved of my engagement." It was all he could think of to say.

She smiled amused. "I smile about it in public because I have too. But it would never work, you and Vilandra would kill each other. Literally, somebody would poison someone else."

Then she shook her head slightly. "You and Q would be so perfect, there's love, there's compatibility. And the babies would be so cute…"

"Mom! Look, I don't know what kind of little demented world you're living in but it's not a possibility. I'm engaged by law, by prophecy, and Q is one of the Chosen. Here, as in on Antar, me and Q what we're doing now is forbidden. If anyone found out we'd both be killed. So what do you think would happen if we got married? Or if we had kids? I'm not gonna put her in danger like that."

"You're scared."

He shook his head, fear wasn't a part of this, only protection.

"Son, you've lived your life the way you've been told, done the things you were asked and lived the life you'd been predicted to. But sometimes, that's not enough, if you want your life to mean something you have to follow your heart and not some foggy prophecies." Her voice was soft, pushing the advice at him from her own heart.

"Feelings don't matter in this world."

It was a snap, it was the rule he'd lived so long by. He couldn't change now.

She reached out, putting her hand on his. "They're the only thing that matter. Rath she wears your dog tags around her neck, she's beautiful, she's something that you'll only find once. Are you really willing to throw that away because Zan won't let her message out…."

He scratched his eyebrow, not sure how to handle this. "How'd you find out about the dog tags?"

"I asked, she showed me. Look Arhal and I have been talking and we think you should surprise her with the wedding…"

He rubbed his face, he could not take all of these options, all of her urging him to do what he actually wanted. "Mom, I can't. I just can't, there's so much more at stake here than just my feelings or Q's feelings…"

"I know, look I'm going to tell you a story and for once you're actually going to listen."

He nodded, he didn't really have a choice, when his mother said jump he jumped.

She smiled. "When I was young I wasn't supposed to marry your father and he wasn't supposed to marry me. We were both engaged to other people, engagements of duty. I was engaged to the soon to be King of Kathor and he was engaged to my fiancé's sister."

He shrugged, so what if she'd once been engaged to Tav's dad. He didn't see how it related to him.

"Well I'd met your father on a few occasions, three to be exact and there had been something there. I mean there was fire, there was sparks, there was everything that you'd heard about when people talked about love. But nothing happened until my wedding day, in the middle of the ceremony your dad decided that he was just going to get up and come kiss me."

She smiled and Rath shook his head, that was exactly like his dad. Get up and go do whatever the hell he wanted on impulse no matter who else it screwed over.

"Why'd he do that?"

She laughed, "Because he felt like it. Well anyway, that effectively ended both of our engagements and after a lot of threats and other things I probably don't want to know about we got married and had you."

"I'm not my father." It was dripping with disgust, he never wanted to be that man.

"No, but you're a lot more like him than you'd like to think. Rath has it ever occurred to you that the reason the two of you don't get along is because your too much alike? I'm just trying to show you how sometimes you can make your own destiny, that sometimes the world will accept love instead of destiny…."

He was quiet, he wasn't sure what to say to that. The idea was just too appealing…

She stood, motioning for him to do the same. Her smile was secret, the smile of a mother who knew she'd won. "Arhal said he'd help you make the ring."

He wasn't sure what to say to that either, but he was thankful for the offer. He didn't know anything about jewelry, shiny rocks or rings. But he still wasn't decided, making no verbal promises aloud to his mother or in his heart to himself.

"Thanks for the food." It was inane, but it worked and she seemed to understand. He grabbed a shirt, pulling it on and slipping it to the adjoining door and opening it.

He was surprised by what he saw, this wasn't the plain quiet room Q had been staying in since the Possession, but a bustling crowded hubbub of activity. There were cots strewn everywhere with various Chosen sleeping or chatting on them, not to mention the healers flitting around and all of the various clutter of gifts he'd found in his room when he woke.

All of their eyes snapped to him, following him as he moved across the room. Some bowed their heads at him as he passed, some reached out their fingers trailing over him as if he was some sort of God. He wasn't sure what to make of it, but he didn't like it. When he'd weaved his way across the room to where she was they all turned away, whatever reverence they had disappearing into nothingness.

Q was propped up in the big bed, leaning against an even greater pile of pillows than he'd had on the bed before, with Arhal lying next to her his arm thrown casually across her waist.

Something twisted in him looking at that arm, brining back all of the memories from the Calling where they'd all been kissing her.

She smiled at him, "Hey. How are you?"

He shrugged, shifting his feet slightly. "Fine, you?"

"I'm ok, tired." She smiled again, shifting her hands in her lap. He looked at her hands for a moment, something was different about them. The nails were painted, he glanced up, her hair was braided back in neat little intricate braids.

He suppressed a smile, she was being pampered and his guess was that she was eating it up. He'd babied her, but this, all of the flowers and sweets abounding out of the room, along with the obviously new bed sheets. This was pampering…

Instead he looked at Arhal's sleeping form, "Why is he in the bed?"

Arhal sat up, groggily. "I'm on watch.."

Well if he was on watch he wasn't doing a very good job, normally being on watch involved being awake….

"Watch for what?"

He took a drink out of something he'd pulled out of his robe. "I'm supposed to make sure Q here doesn't relapse. The Vessel is still vulnerable for 72 hours after the Calling is complete."

Now he was getting angry, he was supposed to watching Q and he was sleeping on the job? What kind of person was he to let Q suffer and possibly relapse so he could take a nap?

"If your on watch shouldn't you be awake and watching over her?" he knew his voice was cold, tinged with anger.

Arhal moved to the edge of the bed, "I'm the Oracle I knew she was going to be fine. But noooo nobody ever listens to the Oracle. It's not like I can see the future or anything, but noooo I can't say anything about it or do anything about it…."

He got out of the bed, standing unsteadily. He looked at Q for a long time then shook his head and turned back to Rath. "Talk to your mom."

"I already did."

Arhal nodded, moving away with a slight weave. Rath sat down on the edge of the bed, looking at Q as she stared amused after Arhal.

"Is he drunk?"

She nodded causing him to frown. "I thought you guys couldn't drink…"

She shrugged turning back to look at him, "We can't. But Arhal's always been the exception to the rule…he's been like this since he woke up."

He reached over, there was something wrong with her face. He turned her chin to the side, staring at the small tattoo on her left cheekbone right next to her hairline. He frowned, he'd seen that mark on some of the other Chosen.

"What's on your face?"

She reached up self consciously, touching the small mark as she turned back to him. "I woke up with it, it marks that I've been a Vessel in a Calling. Every other Chosen that has been a Vessel has it…wait turn your face!"

She reached out grabbing his face and forcing it to the right. She touched his cheekbone gently. "You have it too."

"What?" It was a snap as he grabbed the mirror she was holding out to him. And there it was, the small dark intertwined marks on the edge of his cheekbone, he didn't want this mark. This was ridiculous, he wasn't Chosen, he didn't need this stupid mark on his face to tell him what he'd done or tell everyone else.

He rubbed at it, "Is it permanent?"

She nodded, "And we match!"

He shook his head, "I don't want it, I didn't do anything. You were the Vessel, why do I have a tattoo?"

She reached out, uncovering it by pulling his hand away and holding it in her lap. "Because you were the Vessel at the end."

Did she remember? Gods, how awkward. He hoped she didn't, but a small part of him hoped she remembered what happened with him. It was awkward enough looking at her, hard to keep other thoughts at bay. Hard to keep the memories away of her lips scorching his neck and how smooth her skin had been under his hands.

He shook his head to focus it, he had to remember that for her things hadn't changed, so for them they hadn't changed. "No I wasn't."

She squeezed his hand holding it captive in her lap. "It's ok. They told me. They said…they said I was gone and you brought me back. That you let the Gods take you even when you don't like them…."

She squeezed his hand again, peering up into his eyes. "Thank you."

He didn't want her thanks, it wasn't something he needed to be thanked for. "I didn't do anything."

She shook her head again, "You did! And I know that and you know it and Antar knows it even if you won't admit it. Oh…Oh just Thank you!"

She threw herself into his arms, her small form clutching his chest. He awkwardly wrapped an arm around her waist, glancing around the room but nobody was looking at them at all.

"Q geroff. Public. Public." It was a hiss followed with a small shake.

Her head popped up and she pulled away, "Calm down, they all know anyway."

"What!" It was a hiss.

She settled back into her pillows, laying down on her side. "I didn't do it on purpose…they just knew when we all woke up."

He rubbed his face, this was a disaster. "They better keep their mouths shut."

She looked hurt for a second but then it glanced away as Jonreh came over. "New cold towels. Here's yours, and yours."

Rath took them slightly perplexed but handed one to Q anyway. She calmly placed it on the back of her neck, "Thanks J-reh."

He nodded and moved away causing Rath to glance at her in disbelief wondering when she got so friendly with him. "J-reh?"

She glanced up at the sharpness in his voice. "What's got you all worked up? But yeah, J-reh, when I first came out of the West I couldn't say his name right so that's what I've always called him."

Now he felt kind of dumb, but it's not like he didn't remember what happened. "Oh."

She glanced around conspiratorially before looking back up at him. "Rath. What happened? I know I'm not supposed to know and you're forbidden to tell me and everything but I'm curious. So will you tell me what happened during the Calling?"

She sounded so eager, so very curious. But looking down at her open innocent face, at the purity shining there and around the room at her family moving around unawares he couldn't do it. Some secrets were made to be kept, for once the First Order was in the right in their vow of silence.

He shook his head, "Nope."

"Raattthhh." It was the whiny voice, the one he hated but could rarely resist, as she twisted her fingers around his hand.

"Not today, baby." His kept his voice soft, the endearment even softer a bare whisper of his breath.

"But Raathh…." She was tugging on his hand now, like a little kid. He couldn't take that overwhelming innocence away from her.

"No Q. There's a reason you don't remember and for once the Gods and the First Order is right." He kept his voice firm, sometimes a firm voice actually worked with her.

"Then why do you get to know what happened? Oh wait, did I do something bad? Is that why I don't remember anything? Oh Gods, did I kill someone.

?" Her whininess turning to an upset hysteria.

"You didn't do anything bad at all." He reassured.

"Oh, did I do anything cool?"

What kind of question was that?

"Uhh, your eyes turned red?" he offered slightly unsure.

"Neat!" She curled down into her pillows, shaking slightly.

"I think you need a nap." He told her, pushing the covers up around her shoulders.

"I like naps." She agreed getting sleepy quickly.

"Take your medicine first." It was a still intoxicated Arhal holding out a plant.

But she was already asleep so Rath stood up, taking the plant and Arhal. "We're going to sober you up."

Arhal glanced over from the corner of his eyes, as Rath drug him by the upper arm. "I know, I'm the Oracle."

"Hmm. Interesting, I think you mentioned that before. So if you're the Oracle do you remember what happened?" His voice was sarcastic, slightly humoring but slightly worried all the same.

He pitched forward, passing out from either the alcohol or the burn out he was still experiencing.

Rath put him down on the nearest empty cot, they were already starting to pack up and move out, heading back to wherever they lived during the rest of the decade. He looked back at the bed, at his sleeping beauty at the little tattoo on her face.

So much had changed for him in just a few days, but for her nothing had, it was all steady just another relapse into the fever. But for him it was completely different, he'd touched her as a lover, held her as friend and been told that he could actually do what he wanted. And looking at her sleeping, watching the gentle rise and fall of her breath he finally decided what he wanted.

He wanted her, every bit of her, to be able to watch her sleep every night, to be able to hold her like he had when they'd been rocked by the Gods, to be able to feel her soul all the time as part of his. And for once he was going to get it.

Maybe his mother was right, that feelings were the only thing that mattered.. He sat down next to Arhal's sleeping form, ready to wait. They had a wedding to plan.

…………………………….

Michael woke quickly, his muscles tensing for a split second out of habit before he reminded himself that he was long gone out of that trailer, that nightmare. Maria was smiling down at him, still stroking his hair idly as if he were a child or a favorite pet. He smiled up at her, it felt nice, somebody had stroked his hair every night when he'd been little a very long time ago.

He lay there for a minute, waking up slowly, waking up and putting the walls back up, hiding the smile. He remembered everything, the sadness, the bittersweet ending.

"What'd you see?" her voice was soft, curious, innocent in its own way.

He sat up, not moving away from her, keeping their faces dangerously close. Looking at Maria he could see so much of Q's gentle innocence in her, the same unshakable faith that the world was good. Oh Maria would say she wasn't innocent, that she was hard, that she'd been through too much to ever hold that term. But to him she still was, whatever badness and hurt she'd seen hadn't scarred her or shaken her faith in people, she'd merely brushed off. And she was beautiful for her confusion that she wasn't innocent and she was his, his despite his darkness, his despite the fact that he'd never been innocent.

He moved closer, he hadn't told Q what happened and he wouldn't tell Maria either. For her it never happened, it didn't lurk in her memories and that way it would stay…

Instead he kissed her with the gentle hunger she always evoked in him. Well as close to gentle as he could manage as he remaneuvered himself so that he was on top of her, lowering her back to the couch.

She pulled away for breath, "Michael don't you want to talk about it?"

If he'd wanted to talk would he have been kissing her neck as she blabbed?

No, Maria I don't want to talk. But that was too much effort to say, too much time away, so he merely caught her lips again, silencing her protests as he sucked on her lower lip greedily.

She got the message, moving her hands to tangle in his hair and feel his chest. He took it as his invitation to let his own hands start to wander.

Yeah, she liked that his name a moan on her cherry flavored lips. Well he liked it too and was planning on keeping it up for a very long time.

So they did, getting lost in the sensation of scorching kisses and burning hands forgetting where they were, forgetting the time and most of all forgetting Maria's very overprotective mother.

Needless to say when the door opened, revealing one irate Amy DeLuca and one quite surprised Sheriff they didn't quite notice. Until the book hit Michael in the back a second before the screaming started.

As soon as the book hit him in the back, he thought they were under attack rolling them onto the floor for protection behind the couch. Then he looked up and immediately backed away from Maria.

"Michael. Kitchen. Now." It was angry over controlled demand with a sharp pointed finger.

What? Why him? He wasn't her kid, shouldn't she be attacking Maria like the time she found them in her bed… He glanced to the Sheriff who merely looked vaguely worried, no help.

He went into the kitchen like a man ready to face the firing squad.

"Mom! Wait no…" It was Maria's voice but Mrs.DeLuca firmly shut the door behind her, blocking him from the rest of the world.

"Sit down." She pointed at the table.

Scared shitless he sat.

Oddly enough she grabbed a bowl out of the cupboard and slammed it onto the table followed by a box of cereal. What the hell?

She got the milk out of the fridge, seeing his completely confused look she explained. "I always feed Maria while I yell at her…"

"Oh." What else was there to say? This might very well be his last meal…

She sat down across from him, tapping her fingers madly as she stared at him. Unsure of what to do started pouring cereal in the bowl, following it with milk. He took the first bite, the overt sweetness of the Corn pops hitting his tongue like a brick. Corn pops were sweet but they were no Maria, nothing could compare to the sweetness of her kisses.

As if able to sense his thoughts Mrs.DeLuca finally started talking. "I'm disappointed, especially after the talk we had."

He bit his tongue, holding in a nasty comment about how he hadn't knocked Maria up at 16 like Amy had been. This was not the time to be letting anger or emotions rule him. Instead he tried to come off as reassuring. "We were just kissing."

She stared back in disbelief. "Michael I'm not blind. I saw exactly where you had your hands."

Very slowly he took his hands off the table, putting them in his pockets discreetly because maybe if she couldn't see his hands she wouldn't be able to cut them off…

She looked at him again, reading him in much the same way Maria could do. Then she sighed, "I'm trying here. I know that the two of you are…. Involved…and that that will involve certain amounts of physical contact and trust on my part. I've talked to Jim about it and he keeps telling me that I have to trust the two of you but it's hard when I'm walking in on it on my own couch."

He wasn't really sure what to say to that, other than the fact that the Sheriff was one smart dude, so he remained silent for a beat before asking something that might just get him killed.

"Don't you think your being a bit unfair to us? Judging her by your own experiences and actions instead of hers?"

She looked away, staring at her stove with an unreadable expression on her face. "I don't want her to make the same mistakes I did, or for you too."

Then she looked back to him, her eyes piercing. "For the past 16 years of my life Maria's been my baby girl, she's run to me with her nightmares, confided her problems in me, shared her triumphs and joys. And now that's changing, she's not coming to me first anymore, she's running to you, you're her rock now and it hurts. I hadn't expected it this early, never really expected it to happen, but definitely not at 16. What mother should have to give up her baby girl at 16?"

He was quiet for a moment, so this was what it was really about. Not the kissing or the groping but the fact that she felt like he was taking Maria away from her. Something in him shifted at her last words, changing, opening up old wounds. Rath wanted out, wanted to play and for once he would let him. If Rath wanted to be the one having an awkward conversation, probably one that would end in a screaming fest he could go right ahead.

"What man should have to lose his wife a day after their wedding?"

She was quiet a moment, considering his words. In a pensive voice she asked, "How old was she?"

He was quiet a moment, working out the difference between Earth years and Antar cycles. "She'd just turned 17 that spring."

She looked devastated, her words matching the obvious disturbance. "That's so young…how old were you?"

"22." Twenty-two years of life and 54 of death. Twenty-one years ruled by duty and by destiny, one tempered by the heart he'd hadn't believe had existed, and 54 colored with bitterness.

She picked up on the bitterness, frowning slightly. "You miss her, don't you? Even though she's right there you still miss her…"

"All the time."

Even though Q was right there lurking in Maria it wasn't the same, they were dead, their thoughts and actions always colored and haunted by their deaths. She was tempered, not as wild and carefree as she'd been and he was bitter, still half insane. And they weren't really together now, still kept apart, still one soul shoved into two different bodies, living as two different memories, only fully connected when Michael and Maria let them. In a way it was his own private hell, she was so close yet so far away.

She tapped her chin, looking at him closely. "You're not going to take Michael over to finish your honeymoon are you?"

He was slightly taken aback, what kind of woman was this to be so direct? But he respected it all the same.

"No. Well at least not until they've made their own choices about that." He was equally direct, there might well come a day when he would happily take Michael over for some fun.

Her green eyes narrowed again, her voice slightly curious. "And are they close to making that choice?"

He was amused, this lady just didn't give up. "And is that your business? What makes you think that I'd tell you his private thoughts and decisions on the matter?"

She was equally amused, just as blunt. She was impressed with him, with the man he'd been and he knew it. "Because I scare you and because it would make his life a lot easier."

Fair enough, though he wouldn't call what he felt fear, more of a wary alertness. "Fine. No they're not near that point. They've been through so much that sex isn't the first priority."

He paused for a second, letting that sink in. "But that's what had you worried, that they've been through so much. That it will be like it was for me and Q, where I saved her and immediately after we decided to get married…."

She nodded, "Exactly. You're very perceptive."

He shrugged at her observation, he'd been trained to be perceptive from his childhood. Trained at the palace on how to read people because they didn't want stupid royalty and trained during his Training on how to read every little bit about a person and trained on how to use it against them.

"Not perceptive enough to see the plots brewing around me." It was rueful, bitter. Fucking Kivar.

"It's easier to fool the ones who really know you, to depend on that trust blindly." Her voice was colored by experience, but he wouldn't ask.

"It also makes it easier to get vengeance." He let the feral grin grace his features, he might be dead but that didn't mean he couldn't kill.

"And what will you have left after it's done, what will Michael and Maria have left? What happens to all of your angry energy then?" Her voice was a challenge.

He shrugged, "The absence of light doesn't necessarily mean darkness."

Q had told him that once when he'd asked her why she loved the night. He'd thought it was nice, optimistic and foolish but a nice thought. Only later had he realized she hadn't been talking about the night at all, she'd been talking about him and the shadows that seemed to follow him everywhere.

Mrs.DeLuca didn't get it, he wasn't sure he really got it either but it was right either way.

The door burst open, followed by a stumbling Maria. The Sheriff steadied her from the doorway, their positions making it obvious they had been eavesdropping. There was a beat of silence before the Sheriff burst out, "She made me do it."

Michael shook his head, Rath having faded away. "So that's where Kyle gets it from."

He stood, he needed to go back to his apartment and change for work. He was not ruining his favorite Metallica shirt flipping burgers. "I gotta get to work."

He reached into his pocket for the keys to his bike, no luck. He frowned, "Maria do you know where I put my keys?"

She glanced back and forth between him and her mother, obviously confused. But she answered all the same, "I think I saw them on my dresser."

He nodded and he left the kitchen relieved heading down the hallway towards her bedroom. He went in, first feeling the cool breeze from the open window. The window that he had not left open. His muscles tensed then relaxed, slipping into a fighting position naturally.

He was on alert, but the room was empty. Something, out of the corner of his eye over on the bed. He moved closer, wary.

There were two sketchbooks sitting on the bed, the exact kind he always used. Curious and feeling dreadful he picked the first one up.

He opened it, staring at the sketch on the first page. It was done in the heavy dark strokes of charcoal with only key features colored in with pastels. It was a scene from his life on Antar, the two figures silhouetted in the firelight of a cave. The girl looked nervous, her purple hair highlighted in a swash of color and he looked cold, the only color touching him was the burning red of his rank. Somehow the artist had managed to capture the intensity of the moment, the poignancy of that first connection in a dingy cave on a long vision quest. Across the top in curving calligraphic cursive the word "Do" was scrawled, lurking its way in a flame of orange.

He turned the page again only to see another sketch of his last life.

It was him and Q again, depicted in the same heavy dark strokes of the first drawing. They were sitting this time, facing each other with his dog tags hanging from his hand above her open palm. The only color this time was the flaming red of the dog tags, illuminating everything they represented in the bright color and simple strokes. Across the top the word "old" was written in the same flowing script of before.

The next page was the same idea, the same dark strokes. Except this time the drawing was crowded, the group of people framing Q in the council room. Her form stood out, completely in color with only the burning white eyes left to show the event. The Possession, the beginning of the end. This time the scrawl was different, displaying the world "curses."

The next drawing was completely disturbing, an event he hadn't been there for but dreaded and hated all the same. There was a lone high window with the moons shining through the bars and Q's small figure curled up onto herself with marks of bloody red cuts. Standing over her was a laughing Nkyot, twirling a knife like Rath had done so many times. He bit the inside of his cheek, this was from when Q had been held prisoner, tortured and poisoned. Fittingly, mockingly, it bore the word "hold".

The final drawing in this sketch book was a scene that was all too familiar, a scene that had haunted his days, ruined his dreams and stolen his life. The setting was the same, it never changed no matter how many times he'd seen it on replay in his mind, it was always the Granolith. He was kneeling over, half clutching her fallen figure as her long hair haloed around in the soft cloud of death. There was no color here, no need to highlight the devastation or desperation raging across his face. This page read the word "true?"

"Do old curses hold true?" A question, a mocking all done in pictures, in drawings meant to rip at the emotions and tear at the heart. Wary he dropped it to the bed grabbing the next sketchbook.

It was porno Aladdin in sketch, with Maria furiously writing her stupid assignment and him scowling at her from a chair. Once again there was a word scrawled across "Will". This was like a mirror of the other sketchbook, a different life but the same moments.

He flipped the page and there they were again. This time it was Kyle's room at the Valenti's, they were sitting on the bed his hand pushing the silver ring onto her finger. Her face was confused, surprised, her bright lips standing out. Another word, another piece of the message, once again "old."

Another flip, another mirror. Maria curled up against the kitchen cabinets, clutching herself with large mirrored eyes framed by her mother, Liz and Tess. All in dark worried strokes, he'd been fighting Fonbar and she'd been taken over by Q. The word was a sigh, a promise, written across the top of the page, "cycles."

The next two pages were promises, images not yet come to pass, but threats all the same. They weren't full sketches, just hints of images. A few broad strokes, the hint of a prisoner, the flash of a knife and the word "hold."

The next was equally as bad, equally as mirroring of a future he dreaded. A hint of a future, the focus of another death, another murder. Another word, "true."

One by one he ripped the pages out, laying them out in order. "Will old cycles hold true?"

Then he did the same to the first sketchbook laying the pictures out above the others, above their counterparts. "Do old curses hold true?"

"What's that?" It was Maria's voice, wandering in to see what was taking him so long followed by her mother and the Sheriff.

He glanced over his shoulder, his voice angry and tight. "A message."

The Sheriff moved forward, standing next to him and looking down. "Nicholas?"

"No." It was a snap, he was furious. This was getting out of hand, if there were issues with anyone they were with him and needed to leave Maria out of it.

"Who else could it be?" Maria sounded confused, worried, as she looked down at the pictures, at the images of her life then and now. At the promises laid out for her.

"Kivar." Another snap.

"How do you know?" Amy DeLuca, curious, slightly threatening.

He turned to look at them. "I know. Kivar used to paint, loves to leave his victims presents and messages before hand. He does it to break them, to ruin them."

Maria nodded, "Like Angel in Buffy! He does that, it's completely creepy…..Oh, not good."

'Maria! This isn't some tv show."

He was angry, he absolutely couldn't believe her. This was her life, not some episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, there might not be some good ole happy ending. Besides, they deal with aliens not vampires….

"I know! It just…it just makes it easier to deal with…" Her voice was brutally honest, in the way only Maria could pull off.

He was too upset, too angry at this violation of his privacy to even try and offer comfort. But her mother wasn't, pulling her into a tight hug and rubbing her back for a moment. Then she glanced over Maria's shoulder, holding the Sheriff's eyes for a long moment.

She pulled away, turning to the closet and pulling out a bag. "I think you should stay at Michael's tonight."

Whaaaa? This was a definite turnaround from earlier, a complete 360. Maybe Rath had actually had some sort of a clue as to what he was doing.

Maria was just as confused, "But why?"

This time it was the Sheriff who answered, glancing back and forth between them. "Because this house isn't safe, it's too open. There doesn't seen any way to keep the Skins out. Michael's apartment is smaller, more secure and in a more crowded part of town lessening the chances of anything happening."

There was a pause as he glanced at Michael. "Besides all of the attacks have happened here except for Fonbar, I don't think they're quite ready to make a move onto his personal territory."

"Oh, cuz they still think Michael is all scary right?" Her voice was amused, trying to hide whatever emotions she was feeling.

"Something like that." The Sheriff replied as her mother handed her a bag of clothes.

"Now get going." It was her mom, shoving them towards the door.

"Wait, what are you two doing?"

"Nothing."

She pushed them out, shutting the door behind them.

They looked at each other before Michael headed towards the Jetta. Maria followed silently, staring at the papers clutched in his hand. The car ride was silent, wracked with tension.

The silence held as they went inside, it was dark with a feeling that it had been abandoned, unlived in. Most of it had been cleaned up and repaired from the fight, but there were a still few oddities here and there like a knife hanging out of the ceiling. She stood there staring up at it as Michael silently walked her bag into his bedroom, setting it on the bed.

After a second she followed not wanting to be alone in that eerie darkness. He had his back to her, looking out the window pensively. She reached out, laying her hand on his back tentatively.

"Michael?" Her voice was soft, chasing the shadows from the room but not from their hearts.

He made a noncommittal noise, not turning around. She stared at the sheath of papers still clutched angrily in his hand, the promise of those notes echoing in her mind.

"What happens to you if I die?"

She wasn't entirely sure what made her ask it, maybe Q's residual guilt from last time, maybe her own desperate fears.

He turned around at that, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her close enough to lean against his chest.

"I don't know." His voice was soft, fear and anger lacing the intense tones.

"and I don't care." He kissed her forehead, dropping his face into her hair.

"I'm scared…I don't want.." Her voice was a whisper, choked with fear and laced with unshed tears.

"I won't let anything happen to you, I promise."

It was a fierce whisper in her ear, his arms tightening painfully around her.

It was moments like this that he was so similar to Rath, in the fierce protectiveness, in the intense love, in the way that everything was always 110 percent. In the promises he'd die to keep.

There was a knock from the front door, and Max's loud voice calling for entry. Michael pulled away, breaking the moment and drug her into the front room. "Come in."

They came, all of them; Max, Liz, Tess, Kyle and Isabel.

Kyle grinned, "We fixed Vicky, I tackled him and Tess did her alien thing."

Michael nodded, he'd almost forgotten about that. Max was more sober, "The Sheriff called, can we see it?"

He laid it out on the coffee table, the 10 pages with the two messages. Silently they all looked at it, inspecting and examining.

Isabel looked up, her eyes meeting Michael's fearfully. "Is he here?"

"I don't know."

Tess sat down, "So what are we going to do about this. I feel like we're sitting ducks."

Max looked around, "We do what we always do. We play it safe and wait."

Michael's voice was angry, hard, driven. It was his turn to play the game, and he didn't play by anybody else's rules.

"I'm tired of waiting."

…………………


	33. Chapter 26

AN: So I disabled the anonymous viewer blocker thing, thanks to moongrace so now there can be anonymous reviews! Heres the next part, hope you enjoy my happy self-confidence booster reviewers!

Jumage: Thanks for the review, I'm definitely still trucking.

moongrace: Thanks again for the tip!

Canylovin Fehrian: Michael's not the only one who's tired of waiting, hint. Kyle might just get to save the world! I wanted to show that somewhere, sometime that Rath had a great parental figure. That somewhere, somepart of Michael knew what it was like to have that and that's why he missed it so much when he was little, staring in the windows of families. I'm happy you liked the MM and RQ scenes, this time we get more, but it may not be scenes between who were expecting. THat amde no sense, but thanks fo the lovely review.

spaceboi's pixie: Don't worry, at least your still reviewing and reading. I'm happy that your doing that and I definitely know what you mean about busy.

Red-rumm: The Calling just goes to show how twisted and depraved the First Order was, and how they abused their chosen. Well, and how great Rath was with his devotion to Q. What about Kivar, hmmm well he gets a conversation in here. What are they gonna do about him, Rath won't sti still, he's got an axe to grind. Michael and Rath definitely won't let Maria/Q die again, they'd rather commit genocide. Love the review, sorry if im not totally making sense.

higherbeingfriendsfan: I'm so happy you got the point of hte flash, how horrible moments can really show us what we want from life especially with the help of our mommies. The pictures were creepy, but that was the point, the message. Michael is ready to fight and we see who is ready to fight with him.. Thanks for hte always lovely reviews.

Collision Part 26 "Self-Conclusion"

_fade in, start the scene  
enter beautiful girl  
but things are not what they seem  
as we stand at the edge of the world _

"excuse me, sir,  
but i have plans to die tonight  
oh, and you are directly in my way  
and i bet you're gonna say it's not right"  
"Self Conclusion" The Spill Canvas

"I'm tired of waiting."

It echoed around the room, beating back and forth with finality and a deadly assurance of truth.

"Michael, we can't just rush in. We need to play it safe." It was Max again, using his calm patronizing voice.

"No, Max. Playing it safe just gets people killed. This isn't about you, or Liz. This is about Maria, so really I get to make the choices." His voice was angry, tight.

"Michael-" Max started, only to be cut off.

"No, Maxwell! If this was about Liz you wouldn't just be saying to wait."

"He's got a point." It was Alex's quiet voice as he sat down tiredly.

"I don't want to start a war." Max said softly.

"Newsflash. We're already in a war, we've been in the middle of it for the past 50 years." It was Tess, angry and disbelieving stepping towards the irate Max and Michael.

"A pacifist for a king." It was a disgusted mutter from Kyle. Michael couldn't agree more, Kivar had always blamed Antar's problems of Zan's pacifism. Somehow 50 years later he was still right and it rankled. Fucking Kivar.

"We fight." It was Michael, the soldier in him loud and strong issuing the order.

"We wait." It was Max, the king in him adamant, issuing the order.

"Ok, Ok. Everybody just calm down. Stop yelling and sit down, we've got to talk about it but we need to do it in an orderly matter.." It was Liz, stepping into the middle of the angry charged fray.

People started to sit, Liz pulling Max onto the couch next to Alex. Tess and Kyle heading over to the breakfast bar, leaving Isabel, Maria and Michael standing. It didn't really reduce the boiling tension between Max and Michael, just put a bit more distance between them.

Alex looked back and forth between the silent leaders. "I say we vote, what we do affects all of us so it should be a group decision."

"We wait and see." Max said.

"I'm with Max if we antagonize Kivar and Nicholas it will only make it worse." Isabel's voice was soft, her own fears playing loud in her ears.

"Big surprise, you were fucking both of them last time. Why would I expect anything to change?"

It was an angry snap from Michael, emotions all over the place. He was so out of control with no barrier between his brain and mouth, as usual. Isabel looked as if she'd been slapped and Maria reached out putting her hand on his arm. He shook it off.

"Ok, Michael, let's not attack everyone who votes differently…" Liz said softly, looking back and forth between Michael and Isabel.

"I say we fight." It was Kyle's strong voice, calm and determined.

Who would have ever guessed that Kyle Valenti, male jock and village idiot, would someday be Michael Guerin's strongest ally as opposed to Max? Michael wouldn't have, probably nobody in the room would have. But there it was, all the same.

There it was, one with Michael, one with Max. Four votes to go, though it was really three, Maria was a given.

Tess smiled over at Kyle, "A warrior monk. I think Buddha would approve."

Kyle shrugged and she turned back to the group. "I'm with Buddha boy on this one, we kick us some scaly alien ass."

Alex looked up from his folded hands from his seat on the couch. He looked over at Max and Liz then rolled one shoulder. "As much as I don't want to, we fight."

"I thought you were a pacifist?" Max asked softly.

Alex shook his head slightly with a wry smile. "I guess it got beat out of me. The moment someone shoved a knife into Maria's stomach, my pacifistic half must have fled the country."

"Oh, Alex. I'm sorry…." Maria's voice was anguished, they'd all lost so much of their innocence because of this.

Alex shrugged, "It's life. One day Liz got shot, then you almost died and Max brought you two back. Somewhere along the line I grew up and realized that to keep what I love most in this world I'll have to fight. And for you and Liz, for everyone in this room, I'll fight. I may not be good or battle ready, but I'm willing…"

Maria and Liz hit him like two rocks, hugging him tight. Even after everything, after falling in love, after broken hearts and past lives they were still the three musketeers.

After a moment the three broke away and Liz looked over at Max. "I'm with Alex and Kyle. We can't wait anymore, this is Maria's life. This is all our lives and I won't let anyone touch my best friend."

Maria smiled at Liz. "You all know my vote. I can't…I just can't…I won't let it end like last time. Q fought, but she had lost before it all had even begun and I refuse to believe I don't have that chance."

Someone hugged her from behind, so she turned leaning into the warm chest. All of this was just soo much, the emotion rushing through her. He didn't say anything, but he didn't need to. For them, it worked better in silence, the support passing between them in waves and feelings instead of words.

"So now what?" It was Kyle looking up, slapping a hand into his other palm.

Michael moved over to the chair, dragging Maria with him and sitting down pulling her into the small space with him. "Now we plan."

Liz shifted, pulling out a journal. "I'll take notes."

Michael looked at her sharply, nothing about his thoughts betrayed in that glance. "Reconnaissance. We find out if Kivar is here, where they're hiding out and a time table. Without that information we can't do much other drive into the dessert for a face off. Nobody is alone for a minute, that plan still holds except I'm with Maria now. And if I can't be there I want Kyle and Max there."

Kyle nodded, "I'm game, I'll keep M safe."

Liz looked up, "Time table, what do you mean by that?"

Max motioned to the message still laid out on the coffee table. "When it all goes down, when they plan to take Maria and kill the rest of us."

"I think we should try and talk to Arhal again. See if he knows where Kivar is, any of their plans and see how much of Antar is still loyal." Maria said softly, not bothering to lift her chin from Michael's shoulder as she leaned on his bent form from behind.

"Ok. Maria and I will try and do that tomorrow." Michael said, motioning for the conversation to continue.

"Wait, why do you need to see who's still loyal on Antar? We're here." Alex asked, confused.

Maria smiled softly, "Because if the group is big enough they can cause some trouble for Kivar back home."

There was a pause as Michael looked at her askance, along with everyone else. Back home, as in Antar, coming from her mouth sounded so odd. The casual way she said it, completely unaware was slightly disturbing.

Tess smiled slightly, "Ask him about the Granolith too. That's why this whole thing got started…"

Michael nodded sharply. Kyle got up and wandered into the kitchen in search of food. Finding none he returned, depressed. "Guerin, if we're gonna have Scooby Club meetings here you've got to get some Scooby Snacks."

"Here, here." Alex seconded.

Michael rolled his eyes, "I'll put it at the top of my list."

"I'll order a pizza." Tess said flipping out her mobile and wandering off to a small cheer from Kyle and Alex.

Kyle sat back down, "So I want to do some of the reconnaissance, I'm a pretty smooth guy and could get some real answers."

Liz looked up sharply, "How are you gonna do that. Hey aliens, I'm Kyle here's some pamphlets on Buddha, so where's your bat cave? I think Isabel should be on reconnaissance."

He rolled his eyes, "I was going to follow one, Liz. I'm a pro, I tracked Michael, 'Mr.Big Bad Former General with Super Secret Mad Crazy Fighting and Stealth skills' without him knowing. And that's good because he's a former stalker, he totally used to stalk Maria."

"Kyle, you do realize that you hid in a bush and killed a scorpion instead of listening right? That that whole follow Michael episode was pretty much a complete failure…." Tess clarified.

Kyle frowned, "That scorpion was deadly, who knows what it does to aliens. I could have saved your life. Besides I got the gist, and now I know not to mess with the wildlife…."

He grinned at everyone's disgusted faces. "Ohhh I'm getting an idea. Yeah…here it comes, it's great. It's completely worth Scooby Snacks. Wow I'm a total genius, this is why I'm in charge."

"YOU'RE NOT IN CHARGE." It was a cacophony of snapped voices. They'd suffered terribly under the imagined reign of Kyle the Great.

"Whatever, but I am a total genius."

"What's the idea already, Valenti?" It was a snap, short and annoyed from Michael.

"Well, once I find a skin, you know cuz we've got the flash cards. I just get one drunk and get all the answers, I mean I got Maxie here drunk easily enough…."

He was so proud of his idea, so completely sure that he had all of the answers in his little brown haired head that he barely noticed the incredulous looks of the group.

"Kyle, Max was completely out of control…His powers were going beserk. I mean I know you were intoxicated but how did you not pick up on the fact that he was an alien after he pulled all of those stunts?" Maria queried, looking at Kyle interested.

"Yeah I mean after the whole stage debacle…" Michael added.

Maria nudged him sounding surprised. "I thought you didn't go."

He didn't look at her, he didn't look at anyone so he missed all the covered smiles. Finally he said something, "I made an appearance."

"AKA he watched from the shadows in full blown angst." Alex translated helpfully.

"Back to my idea here." Kyle cut in loudly, trying to bring the focus back to him and his wonderfulness.

"It's a no go." Said Max.

Maria argued, a smile lurking in her voice, "Oh let him try, Max. The worst that can happen is he'll get blown to smithereens, or that we'll see a drunk Nicholas!"

There was a pause before Michael shifted, standing causing Maria to drop forward in the seat from losing her post. "You don't want to see a drunk Nicholas. He's mean when he's drunk, taking the nastiness to a whole new level."

There was a memory there but also an equally strong warning not to ask. Kyle opened his mouth anyway, ignoring whatever little survival bells were going off in his head, but was saved by the knock at the door.

Maria popped up, skipping towards the door with a squeal, "Pizza time!"

She forgot about Michael, and his need to protect. So she was quite surprised when he grabbed her by the arm as she started to flit by him. "Stay."

Her lips pouted, "But pizza…."

"I'll get it, you're not allowed to answer any doors." He walked off, looking through the peep hole judiciously and letting energy start to gather in his palm. Satisfied he opened the door.

"Flying Saucer Pizza." Paulie stated with an amused grin. He looked fairly ridiculous in the futuristic space uniform all the delivery boys wore. But he was just cocky enough, just good looking enough, to pull it off without completely embarrassing himself.

Michael smirked, "Yeah. How much?"

"25 even. So this is the infamous apartment?" He asked poking his head in.

Michael shrugged, opening the door. "Get your money together."

Paulie wandered in after Michael, carrying the pizza over to the counter. He nodded at everyone. "Valenti, and the lovely Tess. Evans, Parker, Whitman. And the ever beautiful Isabel and Maria."

He paused looking at them as people greeted back. "Can I talk to you for a second Maria?"

"What do you need to talk to her about?" It was a snap from Michael, threatening and jealous.

"Chill Guerin I don't want your girl." He said, meeting Michael's eyes in the way only two guys who both think their better than each other can do.

Maria stood up, handing him the wad of their pooled money. "Sure."

"I'll get the plates. Max you get the drinks." Isabel commanded as Paulie and Maria disappeared into the hallway, with the door still open to appease Michael.

Isabel started dolling out the wonderful Scooby Doo plates that were all Michael had out to people. She loved those plates, she'd gotten them for Michael at a garage sale when he'd first moved out on his own.

Smiling she handed Tess the Velma plate and Max the Fred plate. Then Kyle realized what was going on, "I want Scooby! Give me Scooby!"

Michael snatched the plate out of Isabel's hand. "No. Scooby is Maria's favorite."

Alex snickered until Michael turned to glare at him. Kyle meanwhile looked thunderstruck and depressed, "But I'm always Scooby, Scooby is like my alter ego."

Isabel shook her head, looking at the plates in her hand. "How about this mummy plate? I mean the monsters were always really cool…"

"YEAH. Wow, monsters are so much better than Scooby. I remember the episode with the mummy, it's a classic." He grabbed the plate happily and dove at the pizza box.

Isabel shook her head, handing Liz the Mystery Van plate and gifting Alex with a Red Herring plate. For herself she kept the fashionable Daphne plate and handed Michael the last, the lone, Shaggy plate. Satisfied with her careful distribution she headed over to the pizza boxes.

Maria and Paulie came back in, Maria heading over to Michael with a smile on her face.

Tess looked at Paulie, "Thanks for the super fast delivery!"

He shrugged, "When you said Kyle was here Mon knew we had to be fast or he'd start eating the furniture. Anyways have a good night."

He left and Michael handed Maria her plate. "Oh Scooby! My favorite!"

Kyle looked up, "We know."

She looked confused but Michael cut in, stopping the question. "So what did Paulie want?"

She giggled, snaking a piece of pepperoni. "He wants me to help him find a date for this church dance he's got. He doesn't really know any girls he'd feel comfortable taking into a church…"

Kyle nodded, "Most of the girls that roll with the players are total skanks."

Isabel looked up from her tobasco coated slice of pizza. "Didn't know Paulie was that religious."

Kyle shrugged, "Yup. His uncle's the Pastor, Paulie is a good guy no matter how much he tries to hide it."

Liz looked thoughtful, "Is that why he's the only one of ya'll who hasn't dated Vicky DeLaney?"

"Yup."

Maria looked around, "Isabel or Tess….one of ya'll should go with him! It'd be fun and he's a sweet guy.."

Michael cut in, "Interesting. Umm, you know we're trying to stop an alien invasion here. I think we can leave Paulie to finding himself a date."

Isabel glanced over at Michael. "I'll go with him. I'll talk to him about it later. Happy now Michael?"

"Thrilled." It was sarcastic, it was classic Michael Guerin as he ate his pizza.

Liz looked around lifting her coke. "To Friday nights spent eating pizza and saving the world."

"and Scooby Doo." Kyle added.

They drank.

……………………

Tess looked around at everyone beginning to grab their stuff. Then smiling she grabbed her purse and Maria's arm, dragging her towards the bedroom. As they went she snatched Liz first then Isabel.

Once they were back in Michael's bedroom she looked around with an evil grin. "I've got presents!"

Isabel looked confused, "What?"

Tess pulled 4 hot pink credit card shaped things out of her purse. "Well in technology class computer class thing, we got to make graphics for credit cards. So I made something super neat for the four of us, well Kyle got one too but that's because he's Kyle."

"Well what is it?" Maria asked, grabbing one of the hot pink cards with a glittery V on it.

Liz looked at the one in her hand, "V- cards!"

Tess nodded. "V-cards for all of the card carrying members."

Isabel just looked confused, "What's a V card?"

Maria flipped it over, "It's about virginity."

Tess nodded eagerly. "See it says that all card carrying members will carry the card until the date of loss. At that point the card will either be forfeited to the club or if the member wishes to their partner in crime. All details on the card must be told to the club."

Maria looked at her card, at the message and the little blanks underneath it with questions.

Date and time:

Partner in Crime:

Circumstances:

Experience:

Safety:

Maria looked at Tess and burst into giggles, "You can't be serious!"

Liz looked at Tess, "I can't believe Kyle has one!"

Isabel just stared at the three of them. "You all need serious help, but I'll admit this is pretty cool."

"I know, I'm a total genius. But this way we can keep track of each other, and get all the juicy details." She grinned at all of them.

Liz smiled then blushed a bit, "It's kind of personal."

Maria wrapped an arm around her best friend, "That's kind of the point, babe."

"Wait, I really don't want all of those details when Liz and Max finally…Ewww…" Isabel shook her head, looking at Liz.

"Tess we're leaving." It was Kyle yelling through the door.

Tess smiled and they all flitted back out into the front room.

Isabel looked at Maria as they were leaving, "Do you need a ride?"

Maria shook her head, "Nope I'm staying here tonight. Mother's orders."

Tess giggled, "You better still be a card carrying member tomorrow!"

They all left leaving Maria to wander back into the bedroom. She eyed the bed warily, "Michael when's the last time you changed your sheets?"

He came into the bedroom and looked at his bed scratching his eyebrow. "Um.'

"Do you have any idea?" She asked, incredulous. Those sheets looked dirty and she was not going to sleep in them.

He shook his head. "Does it matter?"

"Yes! Oh my gosh, you expect to sleep on your sheets from Gods know when? Ewww."

He smirked at her, "I've got clean sheets, Princess."

She nodded, "Good."

She pulled out her pajamas as he wandered over to the closet and pulled out the sheets. She looked at the pajamas in her hand then wandered over to his drawer of t-shirts.

She dug through the drawer until she found the big Metallica shirt she wanted. Triumphantly she pulled it out. He looked over at her from changing the sheets on his bed.

"What are you doing with my clothes?"

"Getting something to sleep in."

He gestured to the pajamas in her hand with a pillow. "Aren't those your pj's?"

She nodded.

He changed the pillow, "So why do you need my Metallica shirt?"

"Because I want to sleep in it instead." She replied going over to help him change the sheets.

"Why?" Michael just didn't get it.

She was quiet a moment, how to explain without sounding totally odd.

"It smells like you."

He just smirked, spreading the comforter on the bed. She smiled back and went to the bathroom and got ready for bed. When she came back in he was wearing a wife beater and was already in the bed.

She crawled in next to him, curling up on her side facing him. He reached out, drawing her close enough to wrap an arm around her causing her to smile.

"It's been a long day."

"Yeah." His voice was soft as he idly stroked her face.

"Thanks for taking care of me today." Her voice was just as soft, but she needed to say it. Just in case, just in case she never got the chance too she wanted him to know how much the little things meant.

He gave her a lopsided smile, "You do it for me too."

She shook her head, she tried her best but she never really got to take care of Michael.

"Maybe not as obviously but you're always there and it means more than you'll ever know." His voice was soft, some things he couldn't say aloud. Some things he could only say every once in awhile, only let the long truth show for brief moments in the middle of the night.

But would she always get to be there?

It was the question that was haunting her now, the one she couldn't escape. It rankled and twisted deep inside where Q's memories lived on, haunting her in the darkest corners of her heart, causing fear in the places that even Michael couldn't reach.

He knew, he would always know. Was the silent connection they'd always shared just a residual knowing, just hints of the Granix bond Q and Rath had shared? Could she read him so easily because Q had been able to at the end, that even when the bond was latent that some parts of it had leaked out? She didn't know, and she didn't particularly care.

But she was thankful either way, thankful that she didn't have to voice her fears aloud that he could just know. Because she was more like Michael than anyone thought, she had a hard time saying really deep or emotional things. She could talk for hours about nothing at all, but when it came to admitting her deepest fears she couldn't do it. And with Michael she didn't have to.

"I won't let them touch you, I promise."

It was intense, it was soft. It was beautiful and it was oh so familiar.

"My knight in shining armor." Her voice was equally as soft as she tried to joke lightly, she couldn't handle these intense moments all the time.

His lips were a smirk as he closed the distance between them slowly. "Never forget, my armor is black."

How could she when he wore that tight black shirt all the time?

…………………………………………………

Maria wandered down the corridors of the deserted palace slowly. It was eerie with the dark curtains billowing inward, driven only by icy breezes and illuminated with the foreboding moonlight of the Three Sisters overhead. Even knowing she slept she couldn't keep the fear from twisting in her stomach. Bad things happen to those who dream too much.

Q had dreamed, she'd dreamed of so many things, of a better life, of a love. And Q had died, her dreams had been ripped away from her and used as pawns….

Even now they were being used against her, even in death she wasn't truly free. Maria crept closer to the voices, down the empty hallway that had once been Rath's wing and outside the door to what had once been his room.

It looked exactly the same, if a bit deserted. The big bed with the sword hanging to the side and the glint of a knife shoved under a pillow lying on the soft gloss of the picture he'd kept of her. The big bed she'd fallen asleep in once, the big bed that if things had worked out she would have slept in all the time. The cabinet of weapons next to the empty space he'd used for sparring, the empty space he'd tried to teach her how to use various weapons to various degrees of failure. The comfy furniture she'd sat on the one time he told her about his hellish training. How many times had he pressed her back onto that couch with desperate fiery kisses, how many little secret moments were lurking in the history of this room? She didn't know, these walls told no secrets, but this room had once contained her world, some of the best moments of her life, some of the most painful, but always with him.

She blinked and the emptiness was gone, the voices returning. Q was sitting up in the bed, her dressing gown golden and soft lilac trim, the one and only dressing gown he'd ever given her when she'd been sick. It had been his favorite, it had been her favorite. And now she sat cowering away from the hidden figure, even in death she was still scared.

"Leave me alone. I died, I went away so just leave me in peace." Her voice was lilting, strong with only the slightest quake.

"Peace? But, my siren, you're not at peace. You're still so very alone, your lover kept away. This life is not the eternal peace the Gods promised you…"

He moved forward, the smooth lilting tones convincing and pitying. Kivar came to the edge of the bed, reaching out to trail a finger down her arm. She slapped his hand away, eliciting a small deep chuckle.

"Don't touch me. Why are you here? Is tormenting the living losing it's fun? I'm dead, you won. You won remember, I died and he shattered? You've got your crown, your planet…" She was twisting, her anger turning to bitterness.

He sat on the bed, leaning forward and eating her alive with his golden gaze.

"Did I really win? I've got the planet…but the crown, not really. We both know that I don't have the true crown and as such I don't have true power. Now what I want to know, my treacherous siren, is where did you hide it?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Her voice was steady, her body frozen.

He reached over her, drawing the dagger Rath always kept under the pillow out. "You always were a terrible liar. You've been betrayed my lovely. Now I'll ask you one more time, where did you hide it?"

She laughed, tinges of insanity cloaking the sound, but her laugh was confident and carefree. "Somewhere you can't get it. Look all you want Kivar, but you won't find it, and if you do you still can't have it."

Something twitched in his cheek and he reached out, grabbing her by the neck in one controlled motion. He calmly brought the dagger to her cheek but her soft voice cut him off.

"Be careful Kivar, Rath and I are still bound. Are you ready to see him again?" She didn't need to say that he'd had a very long time to think about it and seethe.

He let go of her, letting her drop to the bed. She sat up, her mirrored gaze turning the tables, the mouse threatening the lion.

"I didn't really lose. I couldn't save Rath from you, but I saved Antar."

"Or did you ruin her? You've kept her in rebellion, in civil war for half a century. Am I that bad that you wouldn't let me unite our planet? She'll never be the same…..you've taken that from her." His voice was parroting, using the same suave charm that had seduced a princess and toppled a reign.

"No, Kivar. That was you." Her voice was sure and quiet.

His gold eyes were hard, angry. "I'll let you do your penance if you bring the Granolith home."

She shook her head slowly. "You forget, when I died I was released from my duties to Antar."

He laughed, gesturing around them. "There is no release, as long as your soul lives you're bound."

He leaned forward, "She's bound, your future. She's bound to a planet she's never seen, bound to serve where you would not. You forget, my siren, that everything gets passed down, curses and bindings alike."

He leaned closer, invading her personal space. "There's only one way to end this and you know it. He can't save you this time, my siren, not when your voice is the prize."

"I don't have that gift anymore." Her voice was soft.

He merely smiled. "I'll give you a choice, a chance because Rath and I were once friends. My crown, or you and the Granolith. Choices, my siren, all you ever have."

"And if I chose neither?" Q wasn't looking at him, she already knew the answer.

He cupped her cheek, his voice a soft whisper. "Are you willing to die again?"

"Go to hell, Kivar." It was a snap, there was only so much Q could take.

Something in those gold eyes snapped, and he slid his hand down grabbing her by the neck again. He flicked the dagger, leaning her back towards the pillows.

"Can the dead feel pain, I wonder?"

He ran the very tip of the dagger down her cheekbone, leaving a small trail of a fine red line. There was a second where the air started to crackle with an insurmountable amount of electricity and then the room got very crowded.

Rath was suddenly there, appearing through the adjoining door from what was once Q's room.

"Get away from my wife."

It was ice, it was pure control, it was a promise of death. And it was terrifying.

Kivar sat up slowly, abandoning Q without a second thought. "Rath, it's been a long time."

"Kivar." It was an icy snap, the threat still raging.

Kivar stood, throwing the dagger at Rath almost lazily. He caught it, and a ghost of a smile graced Kivar's features.

"We have things to discuss, mate."

"I'm not your mate." It was a snap as he looked past Kivar to the figure still on the bed.

She slipped out of the bed gracefully, rising to her feet in the fluid movements she always held. She went over to Rath, her finger stilling his opening mouth. She lifted herself up to her tip toes, leaning her hands on his chest as she whispered something in his ear. She pulled back, letting him wipe the small line of blood from her cheek while they held each other's eyes.

Then she backed out of the room, Kivar already forgotten. Q turned, smiled at Maria and took her hand. She drug her down the hallways quickly, out of Rath's wing and back to what was once the First Order's and into what was her room before the Possession.

She flipped the lock on the door, turning to Maria "We need to talk. There's so much you don't know.."

Maria nodded, this was all so surreal. Q beamed at her, past and present united. Q glanced at the kimono like dressing gown she was wearing then smiled, "I need to change.."

She went over to the closet and flung it open, but there was only one garment in the entire wardrobe. She stared at it for a moment her shoulders starting to quake. After a moment she reverently took her wedding gown out, smoothing the skirt even though it was already pristine. She didn't change into it, merely walked over to the couch and sat spreading it across her lap gently. She looked up,

"You've seen the wedding."

Maria nodded, remembering the gentle images that had rushed through her mind. "It was beautiful."

Q shook her head sadly, stroking the soft material. "I shouldn't have married him."

Maria wasn't sure what to say to that, it seemed almost sacrilegious to hear her say that. It went against everything she'd seen in the memories, against every tale she'd been told, against every beat of her own heart.

Q smiled, sensing Maria's confusion. "We'll come back to that later, but it all ties together. My actions, my sins, my mistakes."

Maria just nodded, this was surreal, they were talking. Her past and herself, and her past was willing to just give her all of the answers.

"What was Kivar talking about? The crown thing…" She blurted it out, curiosity exploding outwards.

Q laughed but quickly sobered. "Not even Rath knows what I did, if he knew he'd probably kill me…. This goes much farther back than me, so I'll start there. When Antar was united by Zan's ancestor the Gods gifted him with the Royal Crown, the Royal Seal. It holds all of the nation's power, all of Antar in a sense and with it a King can rule wisely and well. It protects Antar and her interests, choosing it's King's carefully rejecting some, but in the wrong hands it could destroy Antar and the rest of the planets in our system. When I realized that I probably couldn't prevent the death of the Royal Four, when I finally understood it was too late, I stole it. I took it to one of the scientists in Rath's cloning lab and had him take the essence out. The same way they did with the Royal Four when they died, that's how they're all here. And I had him inject it into the mix with Zan's. So the crown Kivar is so desperately searching for is in Zan, it's imprinted on his soul, the Royal Seal seared in his brain."

"What happens if Max dies?" It was all Maria could think of, the disaster it would wreak.

Q smiled, "It goes to Michael, this way the crown can't be stolen or unlawfully possessed. It just passes how it sees fit…."

"So Kivar will never have it…and never really be recognized as a true king…" Maria clarified.

Q smiled, "That about sums it up. But he should have never been King, it should have never come to that. If I'd saved Rath…."

"What's done is done." Maria said firmly.

Q shook her head, the dog tags around her neck tinkling ominously. "Not really, the way time runs on Antar nothing is ever really set in stone.."

A knot of dread was starting to form in Maria's stomach. "What do you mean?"

Q stroked the dress again idly, "The Granolith can warp time. I can go back and undo my mistakes, keep it all from happening."

Maria was starting to find it hard to breathe. "Keep what from happening?"

Q held out her wrist, displaying the Granix tattoo that rested there. Her voice was rough, almost painful to hear. "This. Me and Rath, all of it. If I'd never met him, things would have been different. He and Kivar and Nicholas wouldn't have broken, Rath probably would have been able to control them…."

"You're willing to give up Rath?" Maria's voice was choked.

Q's eyes darkened. "Some things are bigger than me and Rath. I was naïve to think that with my death it would be over, that it would all be ok. I was stupid to think that I could ever escape Antar, escape the decisions I refused to make. I stood back last time, refusing to act and it got me killed and it will get you killed. Well, I'm tired of waiting."

She sounded like Michael, why was everyone so tired of waiting? Maria was quiet, she didn't want to die for another's mistakes. "What happens to you and Rath now if you change it?"

Q looked at the tattoo on her arm again, "I suppose we just go away. We would have never happened, but either way….we'll be together."

"But what….what about Michael and I?" Her voice sounded so childlike, terrified.

Q was quiet, guilty in her silence. Maria stood, "What happens to me and Michael?"

Q looked up, "I don't know. If it works out he'll never come to earth, and your life will be just like it would have been without them. You would still have Liz and Alex, don't tell me you've never dreamed of what it would be like if you hadn't been sucked into the alien abyss."

Tears started to roll down Maria's face, "Liz would still get shot and there'd be no Max to save her. So I'd have no Liz and no Michael…"

Q was silent.

"No. You can't sacrifice Liz and Michael for Rath. You had your stupid chance and you fucked it up. I won't let you take my life away from me." She was angry, furious.

"Michael won't ever have to live in that trailer. And you can be happy without him, you have the luxury of being able to be happy with anyone!" Q was trying to convince her, but that golden voice didn't work on another part of herself.

"I don't want anyone else." It was nearly a scream, she couldn't imagine life without Michael.

"You think I do? But it's bigger than us, bigger than me and Rath or you and Michael. This is a planet we're talking about, this is all of their lives."

"I don't care, I'm not letting you do anything." It was a snap, she wasn't going to let Q destroy her life for a chance.

"And I don't need your permission." It was quiet steel.

Maria was starting to realize that Q wasn't just the naïve little girl who'd let everyone walk all over her. Q was a lot like her, it just took death to bring the ferocity out. She thought she hadn't acted, but she'd died for love and betrayed her nation. She'd withheld from temptation, denied hatred and done so many more things. And now she wanted to act, maybe marrying Rath had made some of him rub off on her.

"You love Michael. So save him from the life he hates, don't doom him to a trailer and childhood beatings, don't condemn him to always feeling second. Love is beautiful but its painful too. Rath was ice before I met him, and yes we had love but there was pain too. He loved me but part of him hated me for it, hated me for destiny, for making him feel, for hurting him. He would have been better off if I'd never met him just like Michael would be better off not having to come here." She was pleading, begging.

Maria sat there for a minute, Michael was ready to act, ready to go off and get himself killed for her. Q was ready to act, ready to go back and erase her past, change the path of her own life all for Rath. What was she ready to do?

Q had been willing to die and now she was willing to let it go. Could she do that?

Q smiled, as if she could sense her thoughts, perhaps she could. "Sometimes to really live you've got to let go."

A lone tear rolled down Maria's cheek. "What do we have to do?"

Q smiled sadly, taking her hand. "We need someone, a guy to go with us. Then I need to talk to Nacedo and get the crystal, we'll go to the Granolith and I'll activate it. You can't tell Michael…"

"A guy…I'll ask Kyle."

Q nodded, "The grasshopper. Yes, we need him, his part to play is bigger than even he knows."

Maria shook her head, incredulously. "Are you saying that Kyle is actually going to get to save the world?"

Q shrugged, "I don't know. But we need to do this as soon as possible, before Michael does something stupid."

"Give me tonight with him." It was almost begging, she wanted Michael time especially if she was going to make Michael go away…

"I wouldn't take that away from you…" Q said softly, her eyes black with the memories of her own short marriage.

Maria nodded sadly and Q reached out grabbing her hand. "Make your choices wisely, the closer you are now the worse it hurts him in the end."

She turned away, going to look out the window of the past. Of the past that might never be.

………………

Rath stared at Kivar across the room, feeling Michael rushing in him. "How's life?"

"How's death?" it was a snap, a friendly parrot followed by that easy smile he'd once thought he could read.

Rath gave an icy smile, this didn't touch him. He reached up idly tossing the knife across the room. Kivar stared at his arm, "It didn't fade in death?"

He glanced down, displaying the Granix tattoo fully. "Some things never fade, some scars never heal."

Kivar grinned, "Isn't it the truth. I've still got some of the scars from training."

"Still have the tattoo?" It was an idle question, slightly curious.

Kivar unbuttoned his shirt, slipping it off the shoulder and displaying the three snakes rising from hell. "Why wouldn't I?"

"I figured after you had my wife killed you'd remove it since that's a pretty definite ending." It was cold, it was calmly said.

He shrugged, "Nope, mate. See I realized a long time ago what you, Q and the king haven't figured out yet. You can't erase the past, you can never undo the bonds formed. You can hate me, you can end everything but the connection is still there. We've been through too much to ever really cut each other off."

"So that's why you had Nkyot kill me, you couldn't do it." It was an observation, Kivar had had him killed and though he might not regret it he wasn't proud of it. Part of him still missed Rath, and that could be an advantage.

"It's my dirty little secret." It was a flippant response, but an honest one as his gold eyes flicked away.

Rath sat down, idly flicking the knife around. There was unfinished business between them and she had a name, Q. "You can't kill me, but it doesn't bother you to kill my wife. She was innocent, she wasn't a part of it."

Kivar sat, adapting the same relaxed spread leg posture as Rath. The light, golden version to Rath's dark brooding one.

"I didn't know you were going to Granix with her." It was a confession, grudgingly made. It said more about the friendship than anything else, it came as close to an apology that Rath was going to get.

"Would it have changed anything?" Another idle question, so many mistakes, so many memories in his past.

Kivar was quiet for a moment, thinking. "For me it would have, for Nkyot no. If I'd known I wouldn't have let him poison her. But I didn't know did I?"

"We all had our secrets, Kivar. Mine was a girl, yours was a rebellion…"

"And what were Q's I wonder. Even your little temptress had her secrets that are just now coming into the game.." He was dangling a bait.

Rath took it.

"What are you talking about?" It was a snap, his attention sharpening.

"You're naïve little siren stole the crown. You're temptress betrayed Antar in ways I never could, your little wife that died for you had sins greater even than yours." It was taunting, it was tempting, it was bitter; those golden eyes tired.

A smirk turned the corner of his mouth up. "Angry that she outplayed even you, Kivar? She knew the game and the consequences of playing better than any of us, I think."

"You're not mad? She betrayed Antar…." Surprise coated the lilting velvet tones.

He shrugged, the light posture not matching the steel that popped up in his voice. "But she didn't betray me."

Kivar looked away, "I didn't have a choice."

"Didn't you? You just put power first." He was still idly twirling the knife, a latent threat.

"And you put a child." A snap back before he shook his head, those golden eyes weary. Even now, with life death and betrayal between them there was still a bond there. No longer a bond of friendship or brotherhood, just the bond of shared pain of growing up together and surviving hell.

Kivar leaned forward, rubbing his face. "You act like I just decided to take over Antar. It was my destiny, my right, my vision quest. You forget I come from a line of Royalty, my father might have sold out but I was supposed to take the world back.."

"I never wanted it to be the way it was, I wanted peace but Nkyot….and then By the Gods, Q refused to help… It just became a mess and you got caught in the middle."

"You shouldn't have brought her into it." It was cold, it was ice.

Kivar shrugged, the camaraderie gone. "She was a tool just waiting to be used, but instead she fell in love. If she'd just done what I asked you could have been together….. but she loved Antar more than you."

Rath leaned forward onto his knees putting their faces inches apart. "Leave her out of it this time. Don't go near her, don't repeat it, don't threaten her, don't even think of her. That goes for Nkyot too."

"You're not my commanding officer anymore, Rath. Your dead on another planet, in a teenager's body. Pardon me if I don't feel particularly threatened."

Kivar had dropped the effortless façade he always kept, let it fall away and show the cold, calm, ruthless and utterly confident being that lurked underneath. Let Rath see the darkness that ran in all of them after the training.

But he forgot one thing, forgot the reason why Rath was the Commander instead of him, forgot the deepness of the darkness and the control that ran within him. Forgot that in a fair fight Rath was just a bit better, a touch faster and half a step ahead.

Rath smiled slowly, "You're a king without a crown, ruling a broken kingdom. You're a king with rebellion and a religion that's abandoned you. Pardon me if I don't feel particularly threatened."

He paused letting that sink into those gold eyes, then his smile widened a shade. "I've got an endless amount of lives to get my revenge, I've got the keys to your religion. You need Q and the Granolith or the crown, I've got it all. If you want the Granolith or the crown you'll leave her alone."

"Or what?" A challenge, none of the fear that was creeping into his heart showing.

Rath smiled, "I'll destroy the Granolith."

"You wouldn't dare, you can't even do it." It was an angry hiss.

A small laugh, "Wouldn't I? I started a war for fun. You forget, Kivar, I used to be a God. The Granolith was sent to me in my vision quest, I can do whatever I want with it. So leave her alone, fight your wars with me or the King."

There was a long silence then Kivar looked up, "She ruined you, she made you weak."

"Why because suddenly you weren't first anymore, because it was about more than you and Zan? I know all about your petty jealousies Kivar, it's why I never told you about her. You wouldn't want the competition…"

He'd known, he'd always known about it. After training suddenly Rath had had Zan again, had another close friend and Kivar couldn't stand it. He knew all about the jealousy, all about the odd type of possessive feelings that Kivar harbored towards him, the brotherly obsession. If he'd known about Q he would have explicitly done everything to destroy the girl's mind, to bring Rath back to him. In the end he won in a way, killing her, but in a way he lost because Rath had been insane…

"I won in the end." He swallowed convulsively, his throat muscles constricting.

Rath leaned back, "Did you? She died but I went with her, I screamed for her endlessly. In the end neither you or Zan existed, only the hole she'd left. So even when she was gone she was it. I tried to kill myself so many times but there was always someone there holding me back. Always someone to keep me in the hell you'd thrust me in-"

"-Stop it." It was a loud, anguished snap.

"Can't take the truth, Kivar?" It was in the same icy tones he'd used to explain his hell, keeping out all of the emotion related to the dreadful event.

Kivar looked away, those gold eyes burning with the memories. "You tried to throw yourself out the window, actually you tried to throw both of us out. It hurt to see you like that, it hurt because I realized that I would never really have Antar. When you started to cry I got it in a flash, that part of Antar was gone, that I would never have that part because in so many ways you were Antar…. And when you were broken it was just an indicator of how she would be, how it had to be. Because when you broke I realized that I couldn't let you live, that you didn't want to. So I had him kill you too, instead of just Zan. Mercy killing, just like we promised all of those years ago."

Yes, they'd promised each other that in training. And if it came to it he'd still honor that promise. He remembered the night Kivar talked about well, felt the burning pain in his veins even at the thought of her gone.

"So you were doomed before it even began, somehow it's quite fitting." An idle comment as he leaned forward, spinning the knife.

"Karma bites." Kivar agreed bitterly, some of the old friendship between them. An understanding.

"I bite worse." He slipped it out idly, impaling the knife into Kivar's thigh in one smooth motion.

He stood brushing his hands off, "Keep away from her, that's your warning."

Kivar looked at the handle sticking out of his leg and back to Rath. He smiled easily, honestly. "She's released."

Rath nodded, they weren't friends, probably never would be again, but they were in agreement.

He left, swooshing into the other room, into a memory that wasn't his because here in the dream plane minds were bound….

………….

He walked down the hallway quickly, he'd come as soon as he'd heard. He'd wanted Rath out of sorts, upset by grief….but not this. Not the dreadful broken creature they'd said he'd become. Not this, anything but this and Nkyot had known what was going to happen. Nkyot's last revenge against Rath…. He would pay.

He turned the door handle quietly going in, he released the guard on duty. Rath who'd never had personal guards before now had them aplenty…but for protection from himself.

He was sleeping in the bed, curled into a ball under thick covers. He looked dreadful, grayish skin, like he hadn't eaten in days with little self-inflicted cuts all over him. He was mumbling to himself distressed. Kivar watched him for a few minutes, seeing the fallen version and getting used to it.

Abruptly Rath sat up, screaming. He looked around his eyes completely blank, two black almonds. Not finding what he wanted he started to frantically search the bed, flipping out the covers and lifting the pillows until he found his prizes.

He curled back down into the ruined bed clutching a doll, that must have been Q's, and the golden dressing gown he'd given her. It was pathetic, it was the saddest thing he'd ever seen.

"Rath?" he kept his voice tentative, soft; he was afraid of scaring him.

Those black eyes slowly turned to him, empty of everything except a raging internal pain. Kivar looked away, guilty, nobody should have to see that in another person's eyes.

"Are you ok?" He reached out to touch Rath's shoulder but Rath pulled away, getting out of the bed and ignoring the question.

He wandered over to the window, like a lost child, still clutching his prizes like they were the only thing that mattered.

Kivar waited, wondering if everything was just taking longer to process in his obviously fizzled mind. He was right, after a few moments Rath answered in a soft raw voice.

"No. She…I…I'm alone now."

"You're not alone, you've still got Ozma." Kivar tried, he knew the bond was still there between Rath and his Uron, he could feel it pulsing in tandem to his own.

"I'm alone." It was an unreasonably angry denial accompanied by a fit of physical anger. Rath threw the doll out the window as hard as he could, watching as it dropped and the crunch it made on impact several stories below.

He was completely out of control that much was obvious. No control over his actions or emotions any more. Kivar felt him frantically try and reach out to Ozma for the icy control he'd relied on so long and felt the gentle rush of power that rushed right through him not doing anything. He was too broken inside for artificial control to work anymore, too broken for anyone or anything to fix.

They both stared at the broken form of the doll lying on the pavement for a long moment, listening to Rath's heavy breathing. Just as quickly as the anger came it drained away leaving a desperate hysteria in its place.

Rath grabbed the window frame, starting to boost himself up. Kivar grabbed him from behind, holding him back. "What the hell are you doing?"

"I have to get the doll! It fell… She's always slept with it, she can't sleep without it. She won't be able to go to sleep without it….." He was struggling madly, a hysterical man in a new hysterical scenario playing out in his head.

Rath managed to get a leg through the window, dragging part of Kivar with him. "I have to go, you have to let me go. She's waiting…."

Kivar pulled back, yanking on the other man hard, thankful that Rath was weakening fast. He hadn't eaten in days and it showed…. Rath glanced over his shoulder, "I'll take you with me if I have to."

Kivar saw the threat, the brutal honesty, what was homicide to man with nothing left? He propped his leg up on the window frame, yanking them backwards into a heap and flipping it so that he was on top.

"She won't be able to sleep!" Rath was screaming it in his face, denial of her death all over his knotted muscles and frantic countenance.

"She's already sleeping." It was all he could think of to say.

It was the wrong thing to say.

The struggle left Rath immediately, his shoulders going into small trembles as he started to cry silently. Kivar got off of him backing away, there was no need to restrain this broken man as he rolled onto his side, hiding his tears.

Rath was crying, Rath the only one, who as A13 hadn't broken down and sobbed his heart out at least once during training. Rath the only one who the Masters never managed to break, Rath the one with the legendary control was crying. Was curled into a ball on the floor, silently sobbing his heart out like a little girl. There was no control now, none to save his pride, none to save his soul or protect his mind, just the pain.

Kivar took another step back, wracked with the guilt. What had he done? What had he done to his best friend, what had he done to their planet? He'd ruined Rath, he'd ruined the one person he'd promised to never hurt. And because of that all of his plans were shot too. He couldn't stage a supported coup any more…he'd been counting on the fact that just Zan would die and he'd still have Rath. Rath to show the planet that everything was ok, that the new government would work. But now, now he had no Rath. Well he had Rath, but he was a suicidal depressed maniac who missed his dead wife.

Rath's fallen figure stood abruptly walking over to the small vanity. He grabbed the lotion off of the top of vanity and squirted some into his hands and began to meticulously rub it in. Kivar was completely confused, since when did Rath use lotion?

Rath came over to him, shoving the newly lotioned hands in his face, "Smell it."

Kivar took a tentative sniff, it smelled familiar. It smelled of girl. Unsure of the reaction Rath wanted he smiled tentatively.

Rath beamed back at him, the I'm completely crazy and don't know any better type of smile he'd only seen on the happy homeless before.

Rath smelled his hands again, "It's heaven. It's how heaven is gonna smell when I go there to see….."

He trailed off at see, his mood abruptly changing again. The smile dropping away to be replaced by a frown. Kivar wondered what was going on in his mind, why it kept jumping around back and forth. If the neurons were blown out or what. He tentatively reached out, using the old blood bond that was still between them. He pulled back immediately, there wasn't much there. Red hot geysers of pain at the edge of a huge black hole. He really was ripped in half, his mind in little tatters at the edge of the abyss of what had once been their soul.

"To see. I want to see her again, I'd do anything for one more night with her. One last kiss, one more smile, one more glimpse. One more song sung in the middle of the night when I couldn't sleep, one more brush of her soft skin, one more sniff of her hair, one more anything. One more silent glance or fight." He was on the verge of tears again, the overwhelming want filling the room as he laid on the bed again. His need choking the room in everything but power, and even almost that despite the constant dosing of deru powder. He needed her, needed anything to know that he wasn't alone but all he had was a dressing gown and some lotion….

Something in the room shifted, adjusting, an almost tangible new presence drifting in for a split second. A small wind shifted his hair in the breezeless room for a split second before it was gone again, ripped back to where it came.

And somehow, that one brief moment made it all worse. He was screaming again, the frantic screams of a man chasing a phantom, "NO. No, Come back…please come back…no.."

Kivar felt his own eyes going black, he knew what he had to do now.

Mercy killing.

He walked over to the bed for a second, reaching out to restrain Rath as he waited for the tranquilizers.

"You'll see her again, I promise."

Rath's black eyes met his, "Do it now."

He shook his head, even now even knowing he needed to he couldn't do it. He couldn't reach out and slit his throat, he was selfish he loved his brother too much to free him.

Rath was still screaming at him to do it now when the healers came in, stabbing him with the tranquilizers. Kivar backed out of the room, all but running.

"Not now, but soon. Soon, I promise.."

………………….

Maria woke up, still upset. Michael was clutching her from behind, his cheek pressed onto her back. She wanted to lie there with him hug him forever, but she was on the verge of tears. She tried staring at his bedside table for a minute to calm herself but sitting on the dresser was a picture Michael had of the two of them, it was unMichael, but there it was all the same. She carefully untangled his hands from around her and started to slip out of the bed but was stopped by his sleepy voice.

"Maria? Where you goin?"

"Just to the bathroom." She kept her voice light, soothing, she didn't want to make him wake up or get out of bed. She needed to be alone for awhile, and she didn't want him to open his eyes or sit up.

"Kay." Was his only reply as he curled back into the pillow, still half asleep.

She headed for the dingy little bathroom, shutting and locking the door behind her. She looked around the crappy bathroom and a few tears leaked out, she might never see this nasty bathroom again if everything worked. She sat down hard on the toilet, the tears coming faster now. She couldn't do this, she couldn't just try and erase him.

Maybe it was selfish, but she didn't want to make Michael go away, she loved him, she couldn't just let there be a possibility that Liz would die. But it wasn't really her choice anymore, it wasn't just about her. It was about world, it was about her friends, it was more than her and maybe it was time to not be selfish.

She got up, pushing the tears angrily away. Maybe washing her face would help, so she went over to the sink. The face wash was nowhere to be found so she pulled open the mirror cabinet in search. The first thing she saw was his razor and shaving cream, the next was the hair gel, of course.

She paused, what was that. She leaned closer, looking at the small box closely.

Condoms.

Her boyfriend kept a box of condoms in his bathroom, though the box was still in its shrinkrap… At least he was prepared.

Maria wasn't sure what to think, but she wasn't disgusted. She reached out, wanting to take one because if this was going to be her last time with him then…but Q's words about closeness came back to her, Q's memories of her wedding and how much more it hurt Rath.

"Maria?" Michael called sleepily knocking on the door, the heavy tones laced with concern.

"Just a minute!" She called, but her voice sounded horrible. It sounded choked with tears, thick with fear and laced with emotion.

He jiggled the handle, "Let me in."

"I'm fine." She denied, not wanting him to see the tear streaks on her face or the obvious dread that was lurking in her eyes in her reflection.

The other side of the door was silent, much to her relief. But the door opened anyway, unlocked with those blasted alien powers.

She immediately turned away, putting her back to him. This wasn't a time she wanted Michael's strong arms wrapped around her, because if he asked what was wrong she wouldn't be able to keep her mouth shut.

"I'm fine. Go away." She muttered, angrily wiping at her face.

He leaned against the doorframe, "Locking yourself in the bathroom isn't fine, Maria."

"Neither is barging in." She snapped irrationally angry that he cared so much to get out of bed in the middle of the night, he was just making it harder for her to do this.

"Wanna talk about it?" He asked with a yawn.

"No." If she talked about it then Michael would lock her in a closet and she couldn't do what she needed to do.

He scratched his eyebrow unsure how to offer comfort. "Uh, want some tea?"

He paused, "Well it might just be hot water, I doubt I have tea."

It made her smile through her tears, but not where he could see with her back to him. "S'ok."

"You're trembling." He declared, reaching out to touch her shoulder.

She pulled away, the closer they got the harder it would be.

He didn't let her pull far, placing both of his hands on her shoulders and leaning in to kiss her on the temple after his gentle words.

"I won't ask."

She let him lead her back to bed silently, he wouldn't ask. He would do the same thing she'd done for him when he'd showed up at her window crying. He'd hold her and keep his questions to himself.

He put her in the bed quietly, crawling in behind her with all the uncharacteristic gentleness Rath had shown Q near the end. He curled into her back, giving his strength silently through small kisses and stroking her hair as she kept crying helplessly.

After a few minutes he started to talk softly into her ear, working to distract her.

"I dreamed tonight through Rath's eyes. Q was there for a little while, with Kivar. Then he Kivar started to talk, we talked about so many things. About the past, about our friendship, about the future. About you. He's promised to leave you alone, blondie, he won't touch you. It'll all be ok, you're gonna be ok…"

She didn't respond, trembling harder at his words. It wouldn't be ok for her, not if what she was going to do worked.

He kept talking, "How can I trust him you ask? There are things that nobody can understand here, bonds that nobody can touch that are old. But I trust him, I just don't trust Nicholas. Don't worry about it. You're ok, you're ok…"

His words were soft, soothing and eventually turning her tears to sleep, to dreams and plans.

……………………………

She woke up to a cold bed and the tantalizing smell of food. For a minute Maria lay there, puzzling out the night before, it hadn't been a dream. A flash or horror hit her, where was Michael? Did she erase him already? She hadn't had time to say goodbye or tell him how much he meant….

She rolled out of bed, stumbling into the front room. He was there, sitting at the breakfast bar eating food while talking to Max and Kyle.

She rushed him, burying her face into his shoulder and clutching his waist. He wrapped an arm around her, not bothering to stand up or stop eating, but she could feel his concern radiating off of him. She understood why, she must seem absolutely insane staggering out of the bedroom looking horrible and latching onto him like a leech.

She didn't care, just breathed in the smell of his hair gel and the unique Michaelness she'd come to associate with home. He pulled her a little tighter, offering comfort as she felt him swallow what he'd been chewing. He didn't rush her, or pressure her, or make her feel embarrassed and eventually she found the strength to lift her head.

He glanced over, not showing any of the concern she could feel radiating off of him, he wouldn't show it where Max and Kyle could see. "Want some food?"

She wasn't really hungry, but eating meant spending more time with him so she nodded. Michael merely glared at Max until Max, with rolled eyes, took the other steaming hot cinnamon roll out of the bag and offered it to her.

Max paused hand out held, staring at her. He quickly averted his eyes, "Shouldn't you, um, get dressed or something?"

She glanced down, curious to what her Girlfriend was on about. She was covered, Michael's big t-shirt covering all pertinent parts, though it was a touch short on the legs. She looked to Michael to see if he objected, he was smirking.

"Chill Max."

She shrugged, heading over to the bedroom, her cinnamon roll could wait for Max's delicate sensitivities. She started to shut the door but Michael yelled at her.

"Leave the door open."

"Excuse me?" Her voice sounded rough, but indignation laced the tones thickly.

"I said leave it open. I don't want you out of sight, there's a window in there and somebody could pop in and take you." His response was initially snappy, before going into a nice explanation after looking at her face.

She looked pointedly at Max and Kyle, "Then come in here, I don't want my Girlfriend and my quasi brother Buddha monk seeing the bod."

He shrugged, with a grin that said he didn't mind seeing the bod and came over into the bedroom. He shut the door behind himself and stared at her.

"Well turn around, you don't get to see it either." She snapped before catching view of herself in the mirror.

She looked terrible, big dark circles under her eyes, crazy hair, pale skin still with tear streaks from the night before, big pale lips and dreadful regret and fear burning out from her gaze.

He smirked, "No, they'll do it when I'm not looking…"

She barely heard him, reaching out to touch the small line on her cheek. The small barely visible cut… Kivar had cut Q in the dream, and now she had a fine cut on her face. This could not be real.

"Maria?" He was behind her now, his hand pulling her hand from her cheek as he stared over her at her reflection.

She looked up, her haunted eyes meeting Michael's in the mirror. He was furious, his other hand digging into her shoulder.

"Michael?" He voice was tentative, scared. It was repeating itself, the cycle not broken. Nkyot had hurt her last time in her dreams, and now Kivar was hurting Q and it was carrying over to her.

It just reinforced the fact that she had to do something.

"Get dressed, we've got things to do, people to kill." His voice was cold, completely shut down.

She dressed in silence, not caring whether he was looking at her or not. He was too angry, too upset too cold to bother with. She still looked horrible, though a more polished horrible.

They went back into the front room, Michael angrily stomping around the kitchen as he poured her a drink. She watched him, unhappy, their life was a total mess. She sighed, wanting to jut hang onto him and never let go even though she knew it wouldn't work.

She glanced over, Kyle was busily eating most of her cinnamon role. He caught her gaze and looked guiltily back at her, "You should know better than to leave unprotected food around me…"

She leaned closer to him, it was now or never. "Kyle, I need your help."

He straightened up, abandoning the sweet treat.

"I'm listening." There was no laughter lurking in his tones for once, only a seriousness that didn't match the sweet boy she knew.

She leaned closer, the tears heavy in her voice as she looked at Michael snarking around the kitchen.

"I need you to help me change the world."


	34. Chapter 27

AN: Hey ya'll!! I knoww it's been forever but I've had a rough time with this part, there's been several accidental deletions of it and consequent rewrites and I've been struggling with medical issues that ended up taking up a lot of time as well as first semester of college! I really want to thank everyone that's stuck by me, and this story, and waited faithfully for the update as well as new fans! All the reviews mean so much to me and remind me why I write, to bring smiles and joy and help occupy our free time.

Thanks to all the reviewers and readers: foolishbabe16, chinkyeyes, Tini, journeylove, red-rumm, higherbeingfriendsfan, trude, Magali, Jumage,

Newpanda: I'm happy this story inspired you to want to write a review and brings back Roswell! Reviews like yours mean so much to me!

Candylovin Fehrian: Maria, who knows what she, and Q, can do? Can we trust Kyle to save the world? All I'll say, is that it's Kyle, he seems to always come through for the best.

Tini: I'm so happy moongrace told me to disable the anonymous thingy too! Michael and Maria's relationship is so real, and I wanted to portray it that way, portray them as the couple they are, the nonsmooth nonperfect relationship between two people so perfect for each other despite how hurt they are. I'm happy it brought spice back to roswell fanfiction for you.

Collision Part 27 "**Deja VooDoo"**

_ Mama calls it: Déjà voodoo When sweet turns to bitter  
And not before  
When wolves come scratchin'  
At your door  
That's when mama's tea cup prophecy  
Will tell you how it's gonna be_

Tomorrow rips up your yesterday  
While it stars in your old passion play 

_"Deja Voodoo" Golden Earring_

Kyle glanced at Maria nervously from the passenger seat of the Jetta. "You sure about this Maria? I mean I don't think Buddha really wants me going around doing his job by messing with time, or Michael killing me…"

"Why not? Wouldn't you just be reincarnated, Buddha boy?" Maria asked back, a hint of a nervous smile playing around her lips. The banter was really just a cover for the roiling pits of worry in both of their stomachs.

"Don't call me that." He sounded just like an annoyed younger brother.

She smiled for real this time, knowing that it was Tess's pet name for her little scorpion killer as she slowed the car near the rock formation. The car rolled to a stop and Maria gave him a look before climbing out of the car.

Kyle sat there staring at his hands, thoughts racing through his mind until Maria opened her door up again.

"C'mon Kyle, we need to do this now before Michael figures something is up…" She sounded annoyed, but he could hear her own underlying fears lurking in her golden tones.

"Maria, I… we can't do this. It isn't our place to go mucking about in the past. Let alone the past on another fricking planet, besides what happens when we get there? What if they like eat us, or just kill us on site? Or fry us in a huge alien sized frying pan, or use us as fuel for their ships..? I'm just a small town guy, I'm not equipped for this…"

"I'm scared too, terrified, but this is something I have to do, Kyle and I need you to do it with me…" Her voice was quaking.

Kyle shook his head as he got out of the Jetta, "You have to do it, or Q does? There's a difference Maria, you can't let her rule you or your life, she died remember?"

"Maybe it's both of us, this, all of this.. it's so complicated… too complicated. Our lives and their lives shouldn't have ever intertwined, this should have never been. I ruined it last time and now I need to fix it, make both worlds into what they should have been…. And you, you're gonna save the world how do you know this isn't it?"

He rubbed his face for a moment, different emotions and decisions wrestling within him. Somewhere inside something changed, it clicked sliding into place, and he came to a decision. "Let's go."

She nodded and they headed up the side of the cliff together.

……………………………………….

Michael glared at Liz from behind the grill, "Still not ready."

She glared back, learning to be unfazed by his rude snaps. "Michael, how long have you worked here? How can you still not get food ready on time?"

He responded with growl. "Look I really don't want to be here right now, I have things to do.-"

She cut in, "People to kill, yada yada heard it all before. But we still have jobs, a business to run. Let's try and keep it relatively normal and all the Scooby stuff restricted to the night hours…"

Michael threw the spatula down and took his bandana off. "No. They don't so I won't. Where the fuck is Maria anyway? She and Kyle go off for some clue thing that they didn't explain and she promised to be back by 12, it is 11:45 and no Maria."

"Michael." It was a hiss through the little window.

"It's not 12 yet, she'll be here. So please please get back to work so that the hungry people wanting to eat lunch here don't turn on us too." Liz was almost pleading.

He stayed still for a moment, the anger still burning in his eyes then started to move back towards the grill. He stopped dead, shaking his head violently for a moment with his inner demons flaring to life in a desperate attempt to rouse him. Rath was rising within him, rebelling against the changes he could feel coming, the changes he had one chance to prevent.

Michael's black eyes met Liz's for a second before he turned away, compelled to the desert. She chased after at him frantically abandoning the café.

"Michael? Michael what are you doing? What's going on? MICHAEL!"

He ignored her as he mounted his bike and sped away, ignored her as her voice screamed at him, ignored her as she screamed in frustration. He was focused only on one thing, getting to Maria and Q and stopping whatever stupid thing they were about to do now.

Liz rushed back into the café, grappling with the phone as she quickly dialed.

Two rings then the sound of salvation filled her ears. The sound of Max Evan's calm deep voice.

"Hello?"

"Max, Max?" She sounded frantic to his ears.

"Liz? Calm down, what's wrong?" He managed to keep the deep timbre of his voice soothing even with the warning bells going off in his head.

"Michael, he just ran off, in the middle of his shift ranting about Maria."

Max sighed heavily into the phone, "I'll find him. I'll call you later ok?"

"Max?" Her voice was tentative, laced with what she knew he didn't want to hear.

"Yeah?" She could hear him putting on his jacket.

"Michael's eyes were black." It was a soft explanation that she didn't want to give because she knew it would just cause more trouble for Max.

Another sigh followed by a sharp curse. "Thanks."

The line went dead without a goodbye, a sure sign of Max's agitation and annoyance at Michael. She sighed hanging up the phone and leaning on the counter, it seemed like Michael was always doing something to agitate Max, or that Max had to clean up after. True, Michael was growing on her more and more throughout these latest crises and how he treated her best friend but he still hadn't learned the basic concept of the Scientific Method. The ability to use a hypothesis and then go through a logical set of steps before immediately rushing into things was completely beyond him. She didn't get it, didn't get how his completely impulsive mind worked, or how he worked at all, she would just chalk it up to the alien genetics but how could she when Max was so perfect, so analytical just like her? Maybe it was just the influence of Rath, she didn't know, but she was starting to get sick of Michael's impulsive ways.

"Miss! Miss!" An angry customer calling.

Liz sighed, what was she gonna do about it, she didn't have a cook.

She turned around, "We're closed."

………………………………………………

Kyle looked from the cliff face that he knew led into some heavy alien mumbo jumbo then back to Maria before making a face. They'd been staring at the shut cliff for a good five minutes now, Maria lost in endless thoughts and seemingly unaware that they were in the middle of a desert standing on a rock.

Kyle sighed, it was time to get back into gear and take charge, it was time for the Kyle that killed the scorpion, the Kyle that took charge over aliens, the Kyle that handles a crazy Michael with ease. This was his time to shine, to handle what Maria couldn't even though he was freaking out inside. So he did what he did best, and he did it his way, packed with dramatic flare and gusto.

Kyle flung out his arms wide, puffed out his chest then commanded, "Open Sesame."

Nothing. Nothing at all, not even a trickle of pebbles falling down the side, not even an echo from his yell. Nothing.

Undeterred he tried again, Valenti's weren't men who gave up easily. "Kyle Valenti Says Open Sesame!"

Nothing. Nothing at all, not even a trickle of pebbles falling down the side, not even the sound of Buddha laughing at his pain. Nothing.

Wait, something.

"Isn't it supposed to be Simon Says Kyle?" Maria's voice was lightly amused.

"I'm way better than Simon, I mean who was Simon anyway? Probably some dorky kid who felt the need to talk in third person and he probably had narcolepsy. Yeah, definitely narcolepsy."

Maria shot him an askance glance before shaking her head, "You have issues, big big issues. I mean the whole narcolepsy thing. Now watch and learn Scooby, watch and learn."

She stepped up to the cliff face, her eyes darkening quickly. She said a few words that sounded like water flowing down the mountain and the wind at night whispering through the desert, and then as if by magic the cliff was opening p for them.

She glanced over her shoulder as she went in with uncommon grace, her eyes still dark, "That, young grasshopper, is how you move mountains."

He hated being mocked, whether it was by alien priestesses or friends, he couldn't stand it. "Well sor-ry I don't speak alien. Plus I don't have freaky alien girl inhabiting my body."

There was no response so after a moment he followed her into pod chamber still muttering to himself. He looked around, in awe, and disgust at the pods. "So they really hatched, as in crawled out of there."

He shook his head, "I always thought you were joking about that."

No response from the overly calm non Maria person he'd come to secretly call Q the Blue, since she always seemed so sad. Instead of letting it phase him he just plowed right on.

"So where is this Granolith that we're using to skip around in time?" He asked looking around and not seeing anything cool or out of a sci-fi movie.

Green flickered amusement in those dark eyes, the two sharing the bodily equally. "Through Michael's pod."

The response was immediate, sounding for all the world just like Will Smith in _Men in Black_. "Aw, hell no!"

She laughed, motioning for him to go ahead and crawl through. But Kyle was resolute, he shook his head backing away, "No way, that is completely disgusting. I don't want to crawl through some web Michael used to hang in before he came out to terrify the world."

"Kyle, stop being such a baby. We need to do this now, before Michael finds out we're gone. We're supposed to be back at the Crashdown."

"So? You didn't mention I'd have to crawl through alien placenta to get to muck around in time. I did not sign up for this, It's way to far, I am so pulling a Shaggy on this one. I'm backing out, running away and eating a sandwich. A roast beef sandwich in fact."

She rolled her eyes again, grabbing him with a surprising amount of force for her size and shoved him through the pod then crawled after him despite his manic screams of "PLACENTA IS TOUCHING ME!! ALIEN PLACENTA!"

After they were both done brushing off the "placenta" which was probably more dust and spider webs Kyle stared at the glowing cone in the center entranced. His voice was more subdued, his anger and disgust momentarily as forgotten as the backpack that lay at his feet.

"I've seen this place before.." His voice was soft, confused and a little awed.

"Where?" A curious question, equally as soft.

"In a dream, right after the whole finding out Max was an alien thing, around when I turned towards Buddhism."

"Who knows, maybe you're psychic or maybe you're tied into this deeper than you thought."

Kyle merely shook his head again, his thoughts troubled. He stayed silent as Maria knelt down at the base of the cone and took a big crystal out of the backpack that was mainly stuffed with supplies. He watched confused as she shoved it into the seemingly solid base of the cone and muttered a few choice words in Antarian, until a huge circle made up of red lights appeared on the wall.

She paused for a moment, staring at it before muttering to herself, with her eyes still freakishly dark all over, before turning the crystal a shade to the right. All in all he was curious as to where she got this mysterious crystal from and what on Earth, or beyond it, she was doing.

"Where'd you get that thing?" He asked motioning towards the crystal.

"Uh, my Mom's shop, just needed a basic light diffuser." She muttered as she messed with it some more.

After another minute she stood up and brushed herself off, handing him the backpack without another thought. He shrugged it on.

"Hold out your hand towards the cone." She commanded doing the same thing.

He did squaring his shoulders and feet with a quick prayer to Buddha, "It's now or never time."

Maria nodded, so it was. They could feel it drawing them in, pulling at their souls and ripping them into a million little pieces, enticing parts of them that they didn't know existed closer and closer until Kyle wasn't really Kyle anymore he was one with the humming Granolith.

There was a flash and then Kyle found himself looking out at Maria from inside the glowing cone. He felt disorientated, like everything was wrong and he was in a funhouse mirror. He was heavy, weighing down like a ton but at the same time he felt curiously light as if we were about to spurt wings and fly away. His whole body was on little pinpricks of fire, tingling as if his molecules were dancing with each other furiously faster. But mainly he felt empty, as if he'd been ripped in two parts, his body and his soul. It was the worst feeling in the world, to know that you've been separated from your soul, that you're just a body with no moral compass, and to be able to feel that soul close by but not pinpoint where. As if it was floating above is head, just out of reach, dancing to it's own beat in a swirl of green and blue.

He looked up and there it was, beautiful. A shimmering swirl of colors moving and intertwining as it danced as it moved, the goodness of his person shining in those colors, the naivety glowing in their simple movements and his determination in the way they twirled and interlaced, only giving an inch. With a glowing smile he looked back to Maria, still on the outside of the cone as if she was waiting for something.

"MARIA? MARIA?" It was the loud, alarmed voice of Michael heard through the pod a second before his tumbled appearance.

"Maria." This time it was a sigh of relief at seeing her, the split second where everything inside showed on his usually hard face. All the love, all the relief, all the fear he'd felt, it was all there in a glimpse so brief Kyle wondered if he saw it to begin with.

Then Michael noticed his surroundings and fury and worry appeared hand in hand. "Maria, what are you doing? Get away from there!"

"No." Her voice was resolute, causing him to come forward.

She held up her other hand, turning her head towards him, causing him to pause. Her voice was strong, without any of the previous tremors, seeing Michael only having reinforced her decision.

"I love you, so much more than you can ever know. But I have to do this, to fix this."

"You can't just give yourself to Kivar." It was a flat denial, a pained phrase clawing itself out from Michael's worst nightmare.

"I'm not." Her voice was gentle.

Confusion burned in his gaze for a second before another person's overwhelming fear and panic grasped him, shoving him out. Rath and Michael weren't like Q and Maria, they couldn't share a body, only one could own it at a time.

"No, you can't!" It was pure panic as he reached out for her.

"You can't just erase us…" He was almost pleading, his terror at the thought so strong it gripped the room and held it frozen.

She put her hand down, turning towards him for a moment, reaching up to trace his cheek gently. "Not us, to erase this, all of this pain in both lifetimes, to erase the ruin that Antar has become. Us? I could never erase that, not truly, the lives you and I have lived will live on in our hearts and whatever happens, wherever we go, we'll go together. Truly together, for once, as one soul."

She looked up at him, at his emotion racked eyes that were darker than black, deeper than a black hole, for a long moment willing him to understand, to see why she had to do this. Something in the dark warrior shifted, locked, this was how it had to end. They were something that never should have been, led astray by hearts that didn't know any better and so they should end that way. Something that never was, a mere might have been who never gotten written in the pages of history.

His voice was soft, pained, "It won't take you, you don't have a full soul."

She looked at Kyle, all but forgotten hanging in the glowing cone. "How do you know?"

He shrugged a shoulder, "We become wiser with death, it seems."

There was so much truth in that casual statement, so much bitter truth in those seven words. He knew things he'd never known in life, learned some of the lessons he hadn't bothered to learn and so had she. It hurt, the pain never ended, but somehow death made them grow up where all of the strife of their lives hadn't. Q was doing something she would have never been able to do if she'd been alive, give them up, because without the rose colored glasses she was finally able to see the bigger picture. The picture where their epic love had hurt everybody else, their selfishness had caused a chain of reactions that effectively ended a world. And she'd been able to make him see, make him understand despite his thick head and infinite stubbornness.

She looked back to Kyle who was frantically waving his hands. "I can't let him go by himself."

He came to another decision, if she could make this sacrifice then he could make another one. He'd made it before once, unwillingly and painfully. Rath could feel Michael flailing about inside, is rage and panic growing stronger and fighting against his hold, the fear of his decision lending that extra strength.

"No, you can't."

She paused, "What are you saying, Rath?"

He didn't answer, he was too afraid himself. Instead he kissed her gently, then held his own hand up to the Granolith and motioned for her to do the same. She did, puzzled, "Are you coming with us?"

"A part of me is." He answered quietly, he couldn't go himself, there were only two souls between three bodies, but he could let her take his soul with them.

Her brow furrowed as she glanced over at him, fear in her eyes, "Are you sure?"

A wry grimace from Rath, "I've been there before."

Then their soul was ripped away, with Maria disappearing into the cone and Michael crumbling to the floor. She could feel the joy of their soul at being reunited, it shined all around them but all Maria could focus on was Michael. He was banging frantically on the cone yelling at her, but she couldn't hear his words or make them out through the haze of the cone.

There was a humming, the high sweet sounds of a song she'd sung long ago in a different time and a different place. It grew more and more frantic only to culminate in a flash of light that left the cone empty and Michael's screams echoing in the empty space.

He collapsed to the floor, the tears rolling down his cheeks as his screams echoed around the room. Here he was again, screaming because he had no soul left, lost in this horrible mirror of his past life.

Slowly, broken and helpless, he curled himself into a tight ball, the name of his salvation on his lips as a bare whisper, "Maria."

……………………………………………………

Maria looked around after her eyes had cleared, she felt funny. Like she'd been split into so many pieces, like how she used to feel before Q awakened. Felt the emptiness that used to lurk in her dreams, back when she was still looking for what she was missing, back before she realized some questions you really didn't want answered.

The first thing she saw was Kyle, looking adorably awed and confused as he stared around the identical chamber he'd flashed into. He stretched his shoulders out and looked over her shoulder, his eyes widening like saucers, like well like, he'd just seen an alien.

Alarmed she turned around only to see a very awed Q in the flesh staring down at her hands in complete wonderment. Behind her stood Arhal, holding a gown to cover Q's newborn like state. He just as quickly began to drape the gown over her shoulders causing her to turn in even more awe and throw herself at him in an extended hug.

Kyle, like Maria, was always prone to verbally expressing himself. He turned to Maria then back to the hugging aliens still completely flabbergasted, "What the hell? Isn't she like, dead?"

Arhal stared at him for a moment, then in a very alien sounding English, "Because of the physics here, and the time dimensions, the two personalities split and both take physical presence."

There was a pause and a completely blank look on both Maria and Kyle's faces then Maria gave an apologetic explanation, "We're both in remedial science."

Arhal looked blank but then shrugged and handed them each a small device, "Put this in your ear, it's a translator so that you can understand Antarian."

Maria nodded, and trustingly popped it into her ear without a second thought.

Kyle, on the other hand, was never trusting of anything not American made, he was full on board with the cowboy mentality. He examined it carefully before going "Ah hah! I found it, this little part here releases the poison! Save yourself Maria, save yourself from his treacherous ways!"

There was a pause then Q took it from him and looked at the part where the poison would supposedly come out, "You do realize that's a speaker right, Grasshopper?"

Kyle paused staring at it, then muttered, "It looks all alien."

"It is alien, see Kyle we're on an alien planet. These people only have reason to help me, Q is my past." Maria explained gently, as if too a 3 year old.

"Fine, fine. But if this thing kills me, you get to explain it to my dad." He admitted stubbornly and shoved it into his ear.

Maria ignored him, directing her question to the two aliens. "So what happens now, I mean we're here. So what's next?"

Q answered, her voice blissfully innocent, "We keep Rath from ever meeting me and falling in love."

Maria glanced at Kyle, that definitely wasn't much of a plan, just a general idea. "Ok, so how do we do that?"

Q merely shrugged, she didn't seem troubled to not have a plan.

Arhal quickly stepped in, before tempers started flaring, specifically Maria and Kyle's. "First thing we need to do is get all of you out of here undetected and to where you can do some good."

Kyle paused, "Duh. So um, what time did we pop back to? Because I have no idea when I am, when, he he."

Arhal smiled gently, "The night before Q meets Rath on the battlefield and they come to find this, the Granolith."

Maria paused, "Um, if the Granolith hasn't been discovered yet why do we have to sneak out?"

Arhal smiled, the same mysterious smile that Q had seen countless times. "Where's the best place to hide something?"

It was Kyle who answered, getting the gist. "In plain sight."

"So we're probably in a city somewhere, right in the middle of something else." Maria supplied, thinking bout it.

Q smiled, "Outside of the city of Keerda, we're in one of the ancient mysterious shrines. People make pilgrimages here, because of the intense Godly images there."

Kyle punched one hand into the other, "So let's escape this temple."

Arhal nodded, going over to a small rucksack and pulling out two floor length robes with hoods. He threw one to each, Kyle and Maria, and motioned for them to put them on. They followed suit, pulling on the robes identical to the one Q was wearing like her own skin.

"You will all follow behind me, with your hoods up, you will not speak if spoken too. You are my attendants, and will keep your heads down. If you don't we will all probably get executed. Understood?"

They all silently agreed by flipping their hoods up and following Arhal out of the room in a triangular flank. They walked through dank, dusty passages, obviously undisturbed for thousands of years, picking their way through fallen rocks and spider webs. Eventually they came to a dead end, and Arhal motioned for them to be silent and he quietly cracked the edge of the passage open. He observed a long moment before motioning them to follow. They emerged at the back of some large structure, with the sound of rushing water directly near by.

Arhal walked around the edge of the statue with them behind him, pausing a few times to say something to a few of the people making pilgrimage to the sacred place, a word here, a gentle prediction there, a condolence. They all stayed silent throughout, faces turned towards the ground, not looking up for anything, not making a sound. For fear they would reveal their alienness, or for fear they would reveal their identity when they were supposed to be somewhere else on the planet.

Finally they arrived at his covered transport vehicle. They climbed into the darkened car and waited silently until they were safely on the road.

"So where are we going now?" Maria asked as Kyle stared out the window in a childlike awe at the alien landscape. He was entirely fascinated, this had always been one of his dreams as a child, to be the first human to explore something and here he was, with Maria of course, the first humans to observe this beautiful alien landscape. And to top it all off they were doing it in the past to top it all off, he wasn't even a thought in either of his parents heads yet.

"To the camp where Rath is staying the night, I have a tent there where we won't be disturbed." Arhal answered quietly.

"Rath!" It was a soft exhale, rousing Q from her dreamy reverie. She'd been staring out the window lost in memories and thoughts, lost in the world of her lifetime. The world she'd never thought to see again except lurking in her mind, the world where she'd loved and paid for that love, so dearly. But that one word, one syllable of his name brought her smacking back to the present. She would see him again, see him in the prime of his life, in real life, rather than locked in her memories that were coated in hindsight.

She looked around, excitement buzzing in her face, a small bit of terror at the emotions he would evoke lurking in her eyes. This, she'd waited forever for, waited her entire death for, but at the same time she wasn't sure she could handle it. She wasn't sure he resolve would hold, wasn't sure that seeing him she wouldn't break down and throw herself back into his arms. Or if she would be angry, angry that he led her astray, angry that he was about to ruin his life. Or if she would tell him to run the other way. But in her heart of hearts she knew that she couldn't see him face to face, couldn't have any of those fantasy conversations. She could never approach him herself, it would only make him more driven to get to know her in the life, would only spike his curiosity because Rath didn't take orders or heed warnings.

"How much farther?" It flowed like a gentle river from her lips, her anxious attention flowing out of her where she couldn't stop it.

"A few hours." Arhal answered with a gentle smile that said he knew everything about her inner thoughts.

Everyone settled down at that, relaxing some of the nervous energy that had built up over the last few hours. Q returning to stare out the window, Maria curling up on the sleep to attempt to sleep and Kyle contently staring out the window and quietly taking in the new world in for once. Maria lay on the heavily padded seat and tried to sleep, but she couldn't. Tears stung the back of her eyes when she thought of Michael. When she thought that they might never be, when she imagined how her life would be without him, without his support, without his anger and pushing, without their connection. When her mind kept going back to his frantic face staring at her from between the cone, at the overwhelming fear she'd seen in his eyes. She wondered at it, if it was just not seeing her again or if it was something more. She wondered if he was still as whole as her right now, with Rath gone, she hoped he was. But most of all she missed him terribly, missed his gentle touch and sharp wit, missed the way she felt when she looked into his eyes.

After a semi eternity they finally arrived in silence, they redonned their hoods and exited the vehicle in utter silence. They followed behind Arhal again, the same pattern as before until they reached a tent.

"I don't want to be disturbed tonight." Arhal smoothly told the military man who'd followed them to the tent.

The fabric door swished closed, and he securely tied it shut with the toggles. Slowly Q reached up and let the hood fall back, revealing her beautiful face, a face instantly recognizable on Antar. Arhal stopped midstep to stare. He was captivated, a poignant smile gracing his gentle features as he gazed at her. It was obvious so many things were running through his mind, memories, regrets, wishes.

"Can I see him?" Her voice was soft, with the innocence of her life, pleading like a small child.

Arhal hesitated for a long moment, "He doesn't take visitors and wouldn't understand."

She nodded, but defiance burned bright in her eyes, part of her blessed gift. The ability to always show her emotions. Kyle glanced over at Maria, their eyes meeting, their thoughts coinciding; Q didn't go anywhere by herself.

Kyle, always sharper than his deceptive Scoobyish attitude portrayed, covered their little understanding, "I'm starving, like I'm gonna die of hunger. Maria, make me a sandwich."

Without skipping a beat Maria fell into the old argument, "Make it yourself, I ain't your momma."

"Woman, I said I want you to make me a sandwich."

"And I told you to make your own Scooby Snacks." Maria snapped back.

"I can't cook!" Kyle whined.

It had the desired effect, just not on Maria. Q looked up, her gentler demeanor shining through, "I'll make you a sandwich."

Kyle grinned, "Ok!...Wait, wait, I know you alien's taste in food and noooo waaaaay."

Q looked hurt for a second, prompting a hug from Maria. "Ignore him, he's just a pig."

Kyle shrugged and began making him, and Maria, peanut butter sandwiches. Arhal smiled, "Food is a good idea. Q, anything you want in particular?"

Q beamed, opening her mouth and Arhal motioned to her to stay silent, "People walking by, you've got to only whisper because you're voice is so recognizable. Besides I know what you want anyway."

She smiled and he left the tent, to go get them food. Finally Maria turned to Q, "So what are we actually doing? Like how are we going to physically do it?"

Q turned to look at Kyle, "Young Grasshopper here will know. But ultimately just prevent me from going with Rath when he steals my xehg."

Kyle glanced at Maria, completely baffled. Maria gave him an 'I told you so' glance, "You wanted to save the world."

He couldn't deny that so he offered her a completed sandwich but she waved it off, "I'm not hungry."

Kyle got up, moving over to a cushion closer to Maria taking both sandwiches with him. He threw an arm around her shoulders pulling her a bit closer, "What's wrong?"

She shrugged, picking at the cushion she was holding in hr lap, "Michael, I can't stop thinking about him."

Kyle took this answer in, "Well we both know he would want you to eat even if you didn't feel like it. He's a bit of a Hitler about it."

She still snubbed the offered sandwich. "No, my head is killing me."

"What kind of headache?" It was Q butting in, worry coating her golden tones.

Maria curled onto her side, using Kyle's lap as a pillow, "It's a horrible aching in the back of my mind, like something is missing, ripped away."

Q didn't respond, sitting there in a worried silence as she twirled her hair nervously. She turned and twisted it, around and around something eating her up from inside.

Finally something snapped, and she confessed, "It's Michael. You two aren't Granixed but you can still feel him and his pain."

"Pain? Is he hurt?" Her voice was frantic, terror screaming in the tones as she sat back up abruptly.

Q was silent for a moment before telling Maria the truth, "He's how Rath was…. At the end."

The moment froze, Maria's face breaking before their eyes. "How could you? How could you do that to him?"

Q paused, her mirrored eyes dropping to her lap, "It wasn't my decision. It was Rath's, he knew exactly what he was doing when he let our soul merge so that you and I could come."

She took a deep breath, "And I knew what I was doing to you when I made the decision. -"

"-Doing to me?" Maria cut in, terrified.

"Part of what's happening to him is happening to you, in the back of your mind its eating away. It won't be as intense immediately, but it will eat at you and eventually flatten you."

Arhal reentered carrying 2 trays and looked around at the very charged atmosphere, "I'm assuming that we're all aware that we're on a time limit now?"

"Aware? I wish you crazy aliens would give us these heads up before we got shoved into dangerous situations, but nooo that's always impossible for ya'll. It's here, Kyle will you go to Michael's with me then oh shit, some psychotic alien is trying to murder me!!"

Arhal took all of this in without any sort of distress showing on his ever serene face. "I think you both should try and get some rest. While Q and I work out the logistics of the plan."

Kyle made a face, "Says Mr. I can see the future, I am all knowing."

But he took one of the pallets all the same and drug it over to the edge of the tent and laid down with Maria following suit. They fell asleep quickly, despite the soft murmurs of voices in the tent and the sounds of life from outside it.

Kyle slept lightly, on high alert because of the alien surroundings and so when Q woke and quietly started to sneak out of the tent he woke. He lay there in silence for a moment until she was gone then nudged Maria awake. She glanced around and immediately understood, so true to any good member of the Scooby gang, they donned disguises then crept out of the tent intent on following Q.

They followed her from a distance, sneaking behind the various tents of the quiet camp and avoiding the few soldiers still awake on watch. She stopped outside one of the larger tents, taking a few moments to listen to the inside and manage a few shaky, deep breaths.

Maria silently crept around the tent to the far side, Kyle following suit. There was a slit in the side where the fabric was hung together that made a perfect peep hole. It was hard to see in the deep darkness, but they could make out their faces.

Rath was sleeping, his hard face remaining unsoftened in his dreams. Q's face in complete contrast was soft, she was enraptured as she stared at his sleeping form. Her emotions were playing across her face like the sun rising in morning and the 3 sisters setting at night. There was the glimmer of hope and the teary shimmer of lost dreams. But beyond all that her face burned with love, with the type of overwhelming love that prompts sacrifice and all of the pain that comes with it.

She reached out, her hand hovering over his face, as if she was afraid to touch him, afraid to feel his realness. Slowly, she started to trace his sleeping features, still hovering right above his face, close enough to feel the warmth radiating off of him and feel the warmth of his breath on her fingers. But not quite close enough, not as close as she craved to be and couldn't. She shifted, or sighed, some sort of small movement that was indiscernible to Kyle and Maria but just enough to drastically change the situation.

Rath's eyes flew open, his hand grasping her wrist and flipping her onto the bed and pinning her all in one fluid moment that took less than a blink of the eye. Her eyes were startled but her hair still covered, helping hide her identity. It was obvious that what Rath had done was just instinct, that in reality he was still half asleep.

"What are you doing here?" It was a threatening growl.

"Wat-watching you sleep." Her voice quivered, shaking with emotions he took for fear.

"Why?" Another guttural growl.

"Because-" She stopped abruptly, nothing left to say.

He slammed her against the bed almost lazily, not threatened by her and still half asleep. At this point he was more curious as to why this timid, completely clueless and obviously not an assassin was in his tent.

"Why? Don't bother lying." His voice held the same lazy cruelty that had been drilled into his personality since his training.

"I wanted to warn you." Her voice was soft as she stared up at him, still completely enraptured.

"About what?" It was a hiss.

Sadness flowed out of her voice, showed in her gentle body pose but it was mainly in her broken voice. "Don't fall in love, when you see her tomorrow run the other way for Antar's sake."

"Who?" He asked, amused thinking of Vilandra as he released her and laid back down, still terribly tired and ready to go back to sleep.

She was quiet watching his eyes drift shut, his half awake state just dropping him back into the sleep he so desperately needed. He'd been so exhausted lately with the hauntings of his vision, he probably wouldn't even remember this encounter. His face remained dreadfully hard in sleep, the hardness she'd seen lingering on his face after the battles he fought.

It hurt, it hurt her so much to stare at him. Arhal had been right, she shouldn't have come to see him, it was just such a vivid reminder of how much she loved him and how much he would change because of their life. Well she wouldn't do that to him this time, she would give him the life he'd always wanted not the life he happened upon.

She quietly adjusted the covers and snuck back out of the tent, and home to Arhal's tent. Maria and Kyle snuck back faster, beating her too it and managing to look asleep by the time she came in. They would pretend they never watched such a tender moment between Q and Rath, they would pretend they never saw the blackness hovering in her eyes or heard the soft whimpers she let out as she cried quietly on her pallet.

…………………………………………………………..

Max looked everywhere, Michael's apartment, the park, the quarry, Maria's house, even school but to no avail. Eventually he drafted Alex into the search, because Kyle couldn't be found and he didn't want to bother the girls.

Alex looked over at Max with a sigh, "How can we lose a temperamental alien? I mean it's Michael, its not like he just goes away and sulks, he does something big like punch someone in the face in front of the whole school…….."

Max shrugged, "Doesn't matter, we need to find him and Maria and Kyle, we need to figure out if they've been taken or what."

Alex nodded, "Let's think about this in Scooby terms, every episode the monster chases the gang. So where would Michael, Maria, and Kyle go to if they were being chased by that monster Nicholas?"

Max nodded going along, "Somewhere they wouldn't be found….Get in the jeep."

Alex did, a slightly confused look. "Where are we going?"

Max glanced over his face hard, a knot forming in his stomach. "The Granolith."


	35. Chapter 28

**AN: Ok, ya'll I'm back. It's back to summer so we're back to regular postings!!! I want to thank everyone for their support, for being faithful and waiting for the long awaited new parts, as well as for finding the story and reading it alll the way through. It's gotten so much longer than I expected it, I have to go back and read parts when I'm writing. Once again, thank ya'll so much for the support and reviews, I love it, so much I wanted to respond to everybody!! I'm so glad to finally have time to write again.  
**

**MnMGrl: You started reading at the right time, where you didnt have a long wait!! I'm glad you love it and it was so entrancing of a read, though it was probably a really long one.**

**Journeylove: Sorry I missed spring break, I was swamped. But now you/'ll get alot more parts, I promise! Funny you mention Ender's Game, I actually read that for the first time last semester for a class. I loved it, but it did have alot of parallels with Rath's training though alot of differences too. As for changing the past you hit it right on the head, if a world had the possiblitly would it go back and change things, and if it did would it be the right decision or would it backfire? Maria is really messing with fire here.  
**

**spookysister7: I love Kyle to. He bugged me so much the first time I watched Roswell, but once I got the dvd's I fell in love with him, he's such great comic releif.**

**CandyGirl97: Thanks, and no not finished yet.**

**SweetonSpike: I love long reviews, they warm me. I'm glad to know that my Michael and Maria is working, I tried really hard to capture their relationship accurately because they are volatile but still sweet in their own way. **

**RLeFay: Could I ever really keep the gang apart?**

**Candylovin Fehrian: You are one of the best reviewers, always with something insightful for me to think about with each chapter. And it's good to know I haven't lost my touch.**

**SunsetGlory: an Update,maybe not soon but here one is.**

**Red-rumm: Thanks, I know right now they're all in a very painful situation, not because of enemies, but because of friends.  
**

Collision Part 28 "My Lovers Gone"

_ My lover's gone  
His boots no longer  
By my door  
He left at dawn  
And as I slept  
I felt him go  
Returns no more  
I will not watch the ocean  
My lover's gone  
No earthly ships  
Will ever bring  
Him home again  
"My Lovers Gone"-Dido_

Kyle heard a low moan, and glanced over at Maria, who was still lying down on her pallet. His forehead wrinkled in worry and he walked over to Maria's supine form, squatting down to feel her sweaty, damp forehead again. He was starting to get really worried about her, her sleep had been troubled and she was getting progressively worse, more unresponsive as the morning wore on. He'd ask Arhal or Q, but of course they'd gone somewhere else for a few hours to discuss "things".

And he was completely pissed. How dare they just up and leave the two of them completely alone on an alien planet, probably knowing what was happening to Maria right now. They were probably laughing about it, giggling over fruity alien drinks about the two gullible humans hiding out in a tent on a military base, laughing hysterically about their upcoming "accidental discovery" and subsequent frying in a frying pan. Yeah, they were a bunch of bitches, and he wasn't gonna be treated like this. He was Kyle Valenti, small town boy who'd done a lot of great things: athlete of the month at Roswell High, winner of the Junior Statewide Rifle Competition, protector of aliens, killer of scorpions. And now he was something greater, Kyle Valenti protector of Earth and its known future.

Maria moaned again, a pain-filled exhale of Michael's name, causing fury to peak in Kyle. He looked around for a rag and some water, but came up empty. So without anything to add comfort to her, he sat down next to her pallet, reaching out for her hand hoping he was enough comfort. Her eyes fluttered open for a second, the usually vibrant green clouded and muddled with pain and confusion. But it was just for a second, causing him to study her more closely. They'd been here less than 24 hours but Maria already looked like she'd been languishing in a hospital for months, with sunken eyes and waxy, pale skin. He sighed, wondering what was wrong, wondering if it was related to whatever was happening to Michael back on Earth 50 odd years in the future. She gripped his hand tighter, curling into a small ball.

He hated this, he was out of control and they never should have come. And he was planning on telling Arhal and Q exactly what he thought when they showed back up. If they showed back up. Which at this point was heavily doubted in his mind, they'd been gone for at least an hour. It scared him because if Q was "so recognizable" like they were making her out to be, why were they gone so long? Especially after dawn had broken and he could hear people, aliens!, scuttling about outside their tent.

He heard the soft swoosh of the tent opening, and the quiet footsteps of the Antarians entering. Their footsteps fascinated him, they were taller, probably heavier but they all moved quieter, softer, barely leaving imprints on the ground or making noise. They reminded him of American Indians in a lot of ways, of the Mesaliko Tribe that lived near Roswell. They way they moved quieter, stealthier, but in a way more natural, the way they blended into the nature, worked with it, the way their Gods seemed more real, more physical, than the Christian God. Everything seemed more real here, maybe because it was in the past and in a sense had already happened, maybe because he was on an alien planet and the time dimensions were different here. Maybe because he was living in a state of half dreaming denial state, maybe because it was all too real for him to handle, either way he wasn't sure and he wasn't arguing.

Instead he turned around, his angry eyes burning holes in the two aliens. He opened his mouth to start his barrage of questioning but was cut off by a graceful raise of Arhal's hand.

"How is she?" He asked gently, surprising Kyle. Kyle had been expecting an apology for the time they'd been gone, or some other sort of acknowledgement, but not that.

Arhal smiled gently, as if he could guess exactly what Kyle was thinking, which being all-knowing he probably could. It both unnerved and pleased Kyle, in a way Arhal's eerie calmness reminded Kyle of Buddha. Ah Buddha, his buddy, his salvation, his sanity.

After a short dreamy smile at the though of some good meditation time Kyle finally answered the question, "She looks horrible, like she's dying on the inside."

He nodded moving over to the pallet with a sad look as though he'd known but hoped differently, "Give me a few minutes with her?"

Kyle merely nodded his assent and moved away to his next victim, err target, Q. He sat down on the cushion near her, she looked tired and worried, her emotions puckering her oddly beautiful face and marring the serene image she should present. Part of him didn't want to do this, didn't want to break her silence, or crush her childish naivety but he had to know because this wasn't about him, this was about Maria.

"What's happening to her?" He asked, trying his best to keep his voice non-threatening so as not to scare or upset this long dead girl who reminded him of a hurt child.

She looked up, her eyes startled then she sighed. "Rath, or more specifically Michael. I didn't realize the bond was this strong. It's tearing them both up, to be this far apart."

Kyle made a face, "I thought you had to have that weird alien marriage for that."

She didn't flinch at his terminology, "No, even though the bond makes things official it's possible for two souls to begin the process. Besides, in a way they are bonded because of us, me and Rath."

Kyle shook his head, "So why would you do this to her? Especially when you know how much it apparently hurt Rath last time, that's not your choice to make."

Q looked up, her mirrored eyes bleeding with hurt, "It's better for everyone."

Kyle snorted, he would give her the same respect he gave his closest friends, the Scooby gang, honesty. "Better for everyone or better for Rath?"

She was quiet, her eyes dropping back to her clenched hands in her lap. Kyle reached out, touching her shoulder softly.

"It's about him, isn't it?" He asked in an equally soft voice, his anger draining away. How could he be angry with this girl, she was lovestruck, hurting and reminded him so much of Maria.

"Everything." It was a broken whisper, her eyes darkening.

She took a deep breath before starting again, "Everything is about him, it always has been. Ever since the beginning, and I have to fix what I've done."

Kyle sat back, pondering what he knew about Antar. They had a crazy religion, with oracles, prophets, Chosen sent directly from the heavens and Gods that seemed to be directly involved. They had a crazy government, where they actually followed Max and Michael, plus Michael was some ruthless, sociopath killer with a soft spot for Maria. There was a rebellion and a betrayal through Rath's friends. In this case it all came back to the Gods for him, if they were so involved, giving them the Granolith, aka the Mystery Van, letting them have time travel how was it all Q's fault?

"If your Gods were so involved how was it your fault? I mean, if they were so directly active why would they let you meet, let you Granix if it wasn't supposed to go down that way?"

A sigh from behind him, as Arhal walked closer, "The age old question that is asked by every generation and now even aliens. One we still don't have an answer to, the Gods work in mysterious ways. But I think you would understand better if I start from the very beginning."

Kyle nodded, with a glance at Maria. "Ok, but how is she?"

Arhal glanced over, "I've done all I can, all we can do is make her comfortable for now. She won't last much longer-"

"What does that mean?" Kyle asked nervously cutting in.

Arhal smiled gently, "She'll disappear in awhile, her mind can't handle the separation of her soul from Michael and her body can't handle the different time dimensions. So she'll just disappear and reappear on Earth outside your Granolith."

"Does that mean I'm gonna go poof too?" Kyle asked nervously, he didn't want to go poof, he liked being unpoofed Kyle.

Arhal shook his head, "No, not unless you stay here for at least a week. Maria is under emotional duress and only has part of a soul, combine that with the fact that she's female and you have too much. Her body can't handle it, the female human is much more subject to what you call the sixth sense, and too much of it … well… But she'll be fine once she's back with Michael."

Kyle glanced over at Maria nervously but Arhal cut him off. "She's sleeping peacefully, you'd probably wake her."

Arhal paused, folding his hands serenely in his lap. He looked away for a moment, coming to a decision in his mind, then he let his mirrored eyes settle on Kyle. "I'm going to tell you things that no Antarian has ever heard, well no living one."

A wry smile, as if even this trivial fact was eternally amusing to him. Sometimes, just sometimes, Kyle wanted to wipe that eternal, all knowing smirk right off his alien face. But every once in a while Kyle actually showed self restraint, and thought before he acted. It was a fairly new development in his personality, one he credited wholly to Buddha.

"Oh and what's that? That Michael used to be an even bigger asshole than himself or Rath in another incarnation?" His self restraint wasn't quite as developed when it came to sarcastic comments and quips.

"Rath's not an ass, Kyle. He merely was what he had to be." Q snapped at him, in an uncharacteristic display of bad temper as she went over to check on Maria.

Arhal smiled exasperatedly at her, like a fond older uncle, before turning his attention back to Kyle. But Kyle caught the underlying look he shot her, one that was never acted on and never would be.

Arhal leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees in a very human way. "As I was saying, it goes back to the very beginning on Antar. Antar was a very different place then, with the Gods residing here, much like your legends of Ancient Greece."

Kyle nodded, wondering how far his all-knowing extended, if it was for the entire universe too or if Arhal was merely an earth history buff.

Another one of those enigmatic smiles, "Are you familiar with the legend of Prometheus, Kyle? I took a particular interest in it while I studied Earth's history, for familiarity's sake."

"He's the guy who gave humans fire, right? Then got punished for it….." Kyle puckered his lips as he remembered. He'd never paid much attention in school, preferring to excel in athletics and teasing, oh, and scorpion killing of course.

"That's the gist of it. Except here it was more complicated, and just as simple at the same time. Rath, or Michael, didn't give his gift out of compassion for mortals."

Kyle felt the cold metal taste of dread in his mouth, he knew where this was going. But at the same time he wasn't really surprised, Michael was one of the most selfish people he'd ever met, if you weren't in his camp he didn't give a damn.

"Maria. It was for Maria wasn't it."

Arhal's gaze drifted to Q, who was tenderly toweling Maria's forehead with a cool cloth. He wondered aloud, "What kind of love is it that can drive two people to such extremes? To time travel, to betray Gods, to life after life of longing."

He paused a moment, looking pensive before sighing. "I suppose it's a good thing, that it's such a rare occurrence."

Kyle privately agreed, who knew where the world would be if everyone was running around like Michael and Maria, so ready to sacrifice everything. But at the same time, was it so rare? He seemed to have seen a lot of this unconditional love that bound people so tight it hurt, in his young life. Didn't Max and Liz qualify too, Max sacrificing so much just to save her life, and her constant loyalty in return.

"I'm not sure if I would want it. It seems to bring as much pain as it does joy to them, whatever binds them is a double edged blade, leaving cuts so deep they never really heal." It was an unusually observant comment from Kyle, but then again Buddha had taught him to observe all that was around him.

Arhal looked away from Q and at Kyle a bit sharply, before letting his face relax. "So it does. Back to what we were talking about before. Rath was in an arranged engagement to one of the Three Sisters, the trio of moons we see today. But he fell in love with a mortal, which angered the Three Sisters when he broke his engagement. He built the Granolith to keep the girl safe, to send her to a time where they could live in peace, but she never got that chance. The Three Sisters captured them, she paid the price and he was forced to endure it all through their bond. Eventually the other Gods intervened at Rath's pleading, ascending her straight to the heavens out of the hell she'd been put in. She was later sent back as the first of the Chosen, and again several more times before her soul manifested as Q's. The Three Sisters were punished, they're cycles separated so that they are rarely all at full moon at the same time, keeping their power unlinked."

"Everything has its price." Kyle murmured.

He trailed off, his matter of fact telling oddly dry for these verbose people. Kyle wondered why, but had to know the last answer. Though he had a horrible feeling he already knew it. "And Rath?"

Arhal sighed again, a terribly sad sound. "He went insane with the rage and grief. But the other Gods didn't pity him as they dolled out his punishment for loving a mortal. They turned him into a mortal as much as they could, he would live in a mortal body, but because of the nature of Gods he would just keep being reincarnated when he died, doomed to live out eternity in different bodies without his love. He couldn't escape it, and couldn't escape the power that was in him, so more often than not he was incarnated into the Royal Family. His soul never really recovered from the loss of her, it always stayed filled with rage and coldness, spawning many many men like Rath and Michael. Until Q came along, that is."

Kyle nodded sagely, "Reincarnation can be a blessing or a curse, it's all about the karma of the previous life. Though to have it as a punishment, is just ….."

Arhal nodded, his eyes filled with sadness. "At least he didn't know, the memories are latent of that life. And what happened passed so long ago, it's merely a legend now that nobody, least of all Rath really believes. He's cocky in his own right, and doesn't need any ideas of being a former deity filling his mind."

Kyle laughed, it was weird to imagine Michael was a God at one point. God of what? Being surly, a pain in the ass, and ignoring whatever advice he gets? Was he the Patron for rebels without a cause?

He laughed again, this time with irony. "I guess Michael's actually got the one up on Max. Max may have been King, but Shaggy was a God…"

……………………………………

Tess woke up and looked at the unfamiliar ceiling confused. She glanced around like she'd done so many times during her childhood, letting herself remember where she was this time. Ah, Isabel's room, more specifically the floor next to Isabel's bed. Ever the princess Isabel wasn't like Maria, she wouldn't share the bed. Tess sighed, stretching the soreness from sleeping on the floor as she rose silently. She glanced over at the bed, it was perfectly made, just like the perfection of the rest of the room. Tess sighed again, feeling lonely as she folded up her bedding, it wouldn't do to have her unmade pile of blankets marring the perfection of the princess's room. She felt oddly like Cinderella, cleaning the evil stepsisters room, but without the step sisters and probably minus the evil part.

She left the room quietly, tip toeing around but her efforts were wasted. The rest of the house was empty. Wanting company she started to dial Kyle's number, but stopped mid dial when she heard it.

"Tess…" It was a soft whisper, the sound of bones rattling in a cage, blown in on an imaginary wind.

She looked around frantically, but nobody was in the room. Maybe it was just her nerves, but just in case she grabbed the baseball bat next to the couch.

"Tav….." It came again, that eerie minor key whisper from beyond. Beyond the grave or beyond the Milky Way, she wasn't sure which but it was unnerving all the same.

She swung around, backing herself against the wall looking for an enemy that wasn't physical.

"Tavessa………" It was a wail, a burning of ice that ran through her veins, raised goosebumps on her arms and caused her spine to shiver in fear.

Where was everyone, what happened to the never be alone thing? Why did Isabel leave her? She didn't know and she didn't have time to think about it as a breeze blew by her. She spun, waving her bat wildly in the direction of the wind. Unfortunately it was the wrong direction.

Nicholas reached out and touched the back of her head, before she could even react she crumpled, unconscious. He looked down at the crumpled blonde at his feet distastefully, then motioned for the skin behind him.

"Honey, I think you need to take the garbage out." It was dripping with malice, sarcasm and an oddly elated sound. Whether his voice was any description of his inner emotions was anyone's guess.

The man behind him picked Tess' limp form up and slung her over a shoulder, as rough as possible. Nicholas looked at the magazine on the coffee table, and tossed it to the ground in disgust. It was obviously one of Vilandra's gossip magazines, oh how the times have changed. On Antar she would have graced the cover, and now she was just another face in the crowd.

"Ok, let's go. I can't stand this picture of perfect domesticity, it turns my stomach." Nicholas announced, wrinkling his nose. They left the house, Nicholas casually causing destruction on his way out.

The skin opened the back door of the car but was cut off by Nicholas. "Trunk, put her in the trunk. Am I working with idiots?"

No reply just the sound of Tess getting deposited in the trunk. Nicholas slipped into the passenger seat, another one of the curses of inhabiting a husk that wasn't old enough to drive. It had to be a sick joke on Kivar's part. Sure it had an element of surprise, nobody expected him to be a leader. But it also had an element of cruelty, of reminder. The reminder that even though he and Nicholas were old friends, he still had a large element of loyalty towards Rath's memory, and at the end Nkyot and Rath hadn't been on good terms at all. So, he'd burned some bridges, done more torture to the girl than was necessary. But if Kivar hadn't wanted ruthless, he shouldn't have given him the assignment. But no, he'd wanted to do this with as little pain to Rath as possible, he didn't want to completely ruin his best friend, he hadn't even planned on killing Rath.

Kivar was a fool. But a fool with power, with much more power than Nkyot could ever hope to possess on his own. No matter how hard he trained, he just didn't have the natural gifts that Rath and Kivar had possessed, it was all easy for them, the fighting, the ruling. But for him, he'd had to work for every inch. So, he wasn't favored by the Gods, he merely would show them all, Gods included, that it couldn't stop him.

"Where to?" The question cutting him out of his thoughts.

"The desert, it's time to play cat and mouse." He leaned back in his seat, ready to relax and contemplate on the drive.

…………………………………………

Max slowed the Jeep as they approached the rock formation, glaring warily at the Jetta and Michael's bike parked there.

"Well that answers the question!" Alex chirped happily from the passenger seat.

Max shook his head, looking around on full alert, "Something is wrong here."

Alex made a distraught face, "I told you we shoulda brought Tess, she could do her little mind thingy…"

"Keep your voice down." Max's voice was sharp, cutting and filled with the silent confidence that seemed to ooze out of the former King at times.

Alex nodded, but he wasn't quite on board with the whole spy atmosphere yet, he was just still a human kid. Max killed the Jeep's engine and slunk out, with a hand motion for Alex to follow. Max quickly examined the Jetta and the bike, making sure they were ok and no hostages were inside. After this he relaxed a fraction, but only a fraction still overwrought with that feeling of uneasiness.

"Let's go on up and see what they're doing here." Max said quietly.

Alex nodded so they proceeded up the steep mountain.

"I really hate this place," Alex muttered as he caught himself slipping.

Max looked back over his shoulder with a knowing smile, as if he felt the exact same way. They reached the top and paused for a second, listening, but the rock was too thick.

"Stay behind me." Max commanded, worrying.

"Do you really think they're in trouble?" Alex asked, worried that his mini Scooby gang might just loose a member.

"It's Michael, Kyle and Maria is there any chance they're not in trouble?" Max replied.

"Good point." Alex muttered as Max held his hand up to the cliff face and the rock began to open.

The first thing they heard were the screams, the unending broken screams that Max had heard a lifetime ago. He froze for a second, his heart breaking all over again, the weariness reaching out and grasping him roughly. Did it never end? Were they really, stuck in this never ending cycle, was it going to end the same way. They were already to Rath's breaking point, or Michael's, so what was Maria's fate, was she still alive?

He slid through Michael's pod without another thought, pushing through the cobwebs and what might have once been alien placenta, with Alex right behind him.

There he was curled in a ball, screaming his head off, no broken weeping and senseless anger this time, no clutching her body and tears, just the screams. Max spared him a moment, looking around the rest of the chamber. There was no sign of Kyle or Maria, it could only mean one thing.

Max squatted down next to Michael, reaching out to touch his shoulder but he merely flinched away as if he'd been hit.

"Michael?" He tried softly, in a soothing voice.

No response. Only Alex coming to squat down next to him.

"Michael?" He tried again, and this time there was a flicker of recognition in his copper eyes and the screaming stopped.

"Michael, what happened?" Max asked, studiously avoiding mentioning Maria by name afraid to set him off again.

"She.. she left…….. again." It was broken, clawed from the depths of hell.

"Where did she go?" Alex asked, his heart breaking.

"Antar…… she took. .took Kyle too." Another whisper, pain leaking into the words so strongly that it hit both Max and Alex like a brick, they could feel where he was, almost as if he'd possessed the Siren's gift himself.

Alex glanced at Max, confused, but Max's gaze showed no clarification just a sad type of acceptance. "We need to get him home."

Alex nodded, thinking for a moment about his mini Scooby gang mates. "Could Tess help?"

Max closed his eyes, as if caught in a painful memory. "It's possible, she had the most success last time."

"I can't go, Maria's….she's coming." Michael said eyeing them angrily.

Max was silent for a beat, an old unforgettable pain that had seared his soul marring his face. Then he bent down and pulled Michael up in one heave.

"She'll go home, when she comes back. She'll come back to wherever you are." Max said softly, not sure if he was lying or telling the truth.

Michael didn't reply but let himself be drug down the mountain, though he didn't exactly help Max and Alex get him down. He seemed to be going quickly catatonic, staring off into space as he stumbled along drug by Max and shadowed by Alex in case he decided to throw himself off the cliff face.

They shoved him into the back seat where he vacantly stared out the window, with an occasional whimper. Max got back behind the wheel, with Alex settling in the passenger seat with a glance back at Michael.

"Where do you think Maria and Kyle actually are? Do you think the skins have them?" Alex asked in a whisper, his usual sunny disposition replaced by a much more somber one.

"I don't know, I really don't know." Max responded worriedly then paused thinking for a moment.

"I doubt it. Nicholas is much too showy to take them and run, plus I didn't see any signs of a struggle, which there would have been with those three. Besides why take Maria and Kyle, who's got nothing to do with this, and leave Michael behind."

Alex mulled this over for a second, but he was only one third of the best crime solving team Roswell had seen in a long time, he needed his other 2/3 to help, but Kyle was MIA and Tess wasn't with them. So he decided to contribute his supertalent, his brain and think about this logically.

"Michael said they went to Antar. Why would Maria and Kyle go to Antar and how would they get there? More importantly why would they leave Michael behind, why would Maria take Kyle over Michael to your home planet?" Alex nearly burst into hysterical giggles at the phrase 'your home planet', sometimes he felt like his life was one long never ending episode of the twilight zone.

He paused, composing himself and pushing the hysteria away with a deep breath and a blank mind, a little trick he'd learned from Kyle who'd gotten it from Buddha.

"And why were they at the Granolith, aka the Mystery Van, the super mysterious creepy cone with magical powers that the skins want so desperately?" Alex continued, adding in his own version of how he saw their alien relic.

"You sound like Kyle." Max said without thinking, before sobering and thinking carefully over what they knew as they sped down the hallway.

"I'm reasonably sure the skins A) don't know the location of the Granolith, and B) couldn't access it if they did. So by that process I'm more and more sure that this isn't a hostage situation. So unless they're enemies that we don't know about, we've got to assume this was voluntary on their part. Do you think Maria took Nicholas's deal, herself and the Granolith for Michael's safety?"

"She wouldn't have taken Kyle with her if that was the case, she'd want to protect him too, not drag him off to certain death." Alex responded.

"Kyle has a hero complex, look at the scorpion thing. Who's to say he didn't make her, force himself along for the ride out of some weird sense of loyalty and valor?" Max argued right back.

"Kyle's not that stupid." Pause. "Well, maybe he is. But Maria I can understand getting herself to Antar, she's got ties to the planet with Q, but Kyle is completely human with no outstanding alien connections." Alex responded.

"Or does he?" It came from the backseat, startling both Max and Alex who'd been so engrossed in the argument they'd forgotten Michael.

"Michael, what are you talking about?" Max asked looking in the rearview mirror and seeing a moment of lucidity, Rath had done that too, had moments of extreme clarity.

"She didn't take the deal, they went to change things." A very long pause, the haunted look rushing into his face like a tsunami crashing against shore.

"Prevent things, us." That us was obviously not a reference to the Scooby Kids, but a reference to Michael and Maria, Rath and Q, to the two souls that kept coming back to each other through pain. He was gone again, staring out the window, the silent screams that filled his mind evident in his hate filled, disturbed gaze.

Max and Alex both rode in silence after that, each trying to digest the new information and fight off depression.

…………………………………………………………………

Maria burned and floated, feeling an empty aching that couldn't be filled. Such an intense longing that she ached all over, craved and craved something but only found the cool touch of a gnawing emptiness. Kyle and the soft murmur that had filled her hearing faded away, sending her somewhere else, somewhere in the past. She felt her mind being pushed, nudged in a direction, soothing away the pain if only for a little while.

…………………………

Q leaned on the rail looking out to the life sea she floated on. Kathor's sole remaining moon was subtly different from Antar, but beautiful in its own way. She was drained from the events that trespassed earlier between Rath, Lonnie, Larek and her. For the millionth time she wondered why she'd been brought along on this treaty mission. But now, jaded as she was, she actually had an answer. So that Rath could keep an eye on her, because Larek seemed to be fond of her, because she could diffuse Rath's lingering air of danger and his threats without trying. She looked skyward, at the stars hanging in the night sky and at Kathor, far away like how the moons would be on Antar, shining brightly as a red and indigo globe.

Restless she turned away from that view too, she was angry but at what or who she didn't know. Even her friends used her, oh she'd always known she was a tool to the First Order, and one that others would like to use, but her friends? Though, she pondered as she drained some of her glass of wine (at Larek's insistence she'd been forced into having a glass of the low dose woksa), why was she really surprised? Weren't they all used, look at Rath. He'd been shipped off to training as a child turned into a monster then the General.

"You look contemplative." It was a soft statement, as he came forward from the shadows clutching his own drink. Seems dinner had been trying on everyone, including the charmer himself, Kivar.

She had just enough alcohol in her system to give her strength, and not let her become the timid animal she sometimes became around him. He must have sensed it, or had just enough woksa in his system to keep him from plotting tonight. He came to lean against the rail with her with a wistful smile.

"No Vilandra tonight?" She queried softly, not wanting to break this moment between time, between two people. This was probably the only time she'd see him as a person, have a chance for the two of them to talk, all plotting aside, to see if maybe in another time they might have been friends.

"No Rath or Larek?" He queried back with a laugh. There would be no plotting, but that didn't mean no word games.

He half smiled again, "I don't blame you, he's in one of his moods. He was much worse than usual at dinner, actually he was a nightmare. I think everyone is avoiding him. He hasn't been that bad in years."

It was true, Rath had been downright terrible at dinner, like a completely different person. Terrorizing everyone, including his own mother. She had a nasty feeling she'd just had a glimpse into his past, into what he'd been like right after training, pre akino, pre her.

Kivar merely glanced at her, knowing what she was probably thinking. "I've known Rath for a very long time, and know whatever it was that happened before dinner must have been big to set him off like that."

Q rubbed her arms idly as she shrugged, rubbing the bruises from his violent shaking. She didn't really want to talk about it. Instead she changed the subject. "Funny how Rath's bad moods effect everyone around him, reach out to touch treaties. Why does everything have to be about him?"

Kivar looked out to the life sea, heaviness in his voice. "I don't know, but everyone caters to him. They can't help liking him, wanting his approval even though he's rude, mean, and about as unlikable as you can be. There's just something about Rath you can't ignore."

Q turned around on the rail so they were both facing the sea again. So even Kivar couldn't help wanting to please the General. Interesting. "You two are close."

He nodded, "Closer than brothers, closer than blood. Rath's the one person I can completely trust, I know that will never turn on me. In a way it's why Zan and I never got along. A competition for Rath, you could say. Zan and Rath grew up together in a loving household, brothers forged out of the lives they were to lead, brothers out of loving times. Rath and I grew up together in hell, brothers forged out blood, of fighting, of being bound. Which do you think runs stronger, bonds from the good times or bonds from hell?"

He laughed, turning away from her for a minute. It made her wonder if that's really what all this was about, it wasn't about being King. If it was in a way all for Rath, for his affection's, eliminating Zan and her so he wouldn't have to share his friend.

"What was it like to be bound to Rath?"

She asked, the question slipping out clothed in bitterness. She wanted to know so bad, because no matter how much she wanted it she would never get that dream. She was from Antar, not the other planets and that meant her soul couldn't be bound, she could never marry and have children. The pain from the earlier revelation that other Chosen on other planets could, it was still so fresh, so raw, still endlessly cutting her heart.

He took a long swallow out of his own glass, a much stronger concoction that she was drinking. "You're not the first to ask that question, and you won't be the first to not understand the answer. Nkyot never could understand why they paired us together."

He shook his head for a moment, as if choosing his words carefully. "I should explain the bond and how pairings work. It's not like a Granix bond. Our souls remained our own, but our minds were linked, we would know when the other was in danger, could talk mind to mind. The works."

Another wistful smile, "Normally they pair a stronger soldier with a weaker one, a crazy one with a saner one. But not me and Rath, both of us were terribly strong and terribly unstable, by far the most powerful pair of our group, or ever. Nyk never could get why they did it, though he always said we were akin to a nuclear weapon waiting to go off. One that did go off a few times."

He laughed softly at the memories. But she was enraptured, "But why did they do it?"

Another long drain from his glass. "Because we were already close, as unstable as we were apart, Rath was the only thing that kept me in any semblance of sanity. In this case the more unstable we were on our own, the more tempered we were together. Nobody noticed that of course, because our tempered version was still off the deep end of crazy. Too much power in one person does that, and we were much too young to be handling all the power that came with us. Besides they couldn't risk us with weaker partners."

She glanced questioning at him, she didn't quite get the politics. He smiled again, "They weren't going to risk getting the future General killed or making him insane if his partner died, so they couldn't give him someone he would have to watch out for. They also weren't about to risk a fallen prince, so they gave me and Rath the closest thing we had to equals, each other. Anything that could get through one of us, well the rest of the company was doomed anyway."

A cocky smile, one she'd seen a thousand times on Rath's face. It chilled her, these two were much more alike than she'd ever realized. The same person down deep, just with different exteriors, different facades to keep the world at bay. In a way they were merely mirrors of each other, one good and one bad. One reflecting light and the other darkness, but who was it that held the deeper darkness she wondered. It unsettled her.

"So what was it like?" She asked, maneuvering around to her earlier query.

"What is it like to be bound so tightly to someone you share the same dreams at night? It's hard to describe, in many ways it's one of the best experiences of your life. Because you don't have that ache anymore, the ache all of us who aren't Granixed live with. You have that one person who will stand by you no matter what, who no matter what end it comes to you can't hurt. But at the same time it was painful because we were both so crazy then, when I got bloodlust or the need to kill he got it too, and it bounced between us making it stronger. You have no privacy, whatever you do he hears and feels, so you're not only trying to exert self control on yourself but on another person too. But it made the fighting so easy, fighting for us was so simple, we complimented each other perfectly. We still do, one of the left over effects, I still know whether he's going to hit left or right, what enemies he'll take. Even now he's still my brother and that's something I can't ever forget."

She turned away, he was haunted by what he was doing to Antar, to Rath. But it answered one of her major questions, he wasn't going to hurt Rath. He couldn't. But oh what would it be like to be Granixed with Rath, to share a soul, to know everything about him, to have it flow between them. To have their souls dance endlessly to the music they made together.

"If you're so close why are you doing this?" She asked softly, tiredly. She wanted, no needed, to know why she was being put through so much pain.

He drained the rest of his drink and threw his glass into the life ocean. "Rath's vision quest led him to the Granolith. Mine leads me somewhere else entirely."

A vision quest. Oh Gods, why would they send him a quest that led him to destroy the royals, send him the one thing he can't deny that would hurt a friendship. What were her Gods, ones that would destroy a monarchy, a way of life. She wasn't sure if the Skylons had different Gods or not, but to do this to him, to make him destroy everything, to not give him a choice. It was sick, it was painful, and it was probably a punishment for something that happened long ago.

He turned away from her with a grimace. And she pitied him, suddenly pitied the position Kivar had been put into, one that would tear apart his friendships, a planet and his soul.

Sensing her distress he turned her towards him, tilting her face up to him, up to the stars. "The Gods work in mysterious ways, my Siren."

She couldn't look away from the gold in his eyes, eyes she'd never seen on another person. They shone like the sun and reminded her of acres of fields just like the green lilt in his voice spoke of provinces in the old lands. He truly was the last of his kind, the last royalty of the Skylons, and it weighed heavily on him, in everything he did.

He leaned down, his eyes overtaking everything in his sight and leaned his forehead against hers for a moment. Self hate smoldered in his eyes, his inner demons burning bright in his golden gaze. It was a small glimpse of the boy before the vision quest, of the boy who Vilandra must have fallen in love with, the boy who stood by his best friend proudly with no other dreams than that.

"You would have been a good wife to him, Qaelia. I would have backed the two of you." He whispered softly, speaking of what might have beens. Of a time and place where he wasn't planning on having her killed, of a lifetime where he hadn't been turned down the path of destruction. Of the life they all wished would have happened.

He turned away, leaving the balcony quietly, breaking this truce. This moment caught under the moons, a moment of kinship between two enemies, a moment of regret for how it could have gone. He had been so drastically different than the man she'd encountered earlier in the night, with his threats, with his snake charmer ways, with his promises of her glory. This had been the boy before the training that made him into a monster, the boy that Rath had been bound to, the best friend that would go through hell willingly and dreamed the same dreams as his brother at night.

Before she had time to contemplate this other side of Kivar the balcony door opened again and Larek came out into the night. He held out her shawl. "I thought you might be cold, Miss Qaelia."

Startled she took it, it was a bit chilly and she'd only just noticed. Funny how some things were more important than how your body felt.

"Thank you, Your Majesty." She replied, smiling. This King really was adorable, so different from all the other men she knew.

"Call me Larek, how many times do I have to tell you?" He laughed, then sobered quickly.

"How are you feeling? He didn't hurt you did he?" He asked solicitously referring to the events that happened earlier in the night, Rath's loss of control and subsequent attempt to shake her to death, or shake information out of her.

She smiled, not that she wanted to talk about the event. "I'm perfectly fine. How are you? He really shouldn't have grabbed you like that…"

Larek shrugged, "Perfectly fine, I'm used to it from him. After all we grew up together."

She took a sip from her long forgotten drink, funny how Rath's past was floating all around her tonight. How she couldn't escape it, but wasn't that what she'd promised when she'd taken his dog tags? To take his past for him, odd it was only now that he'd taken them back from her that she got her opportunity.

"So I've heard." She murmured.

"So, um, if I may ask, why is the General so protective of you? It's not really his style." Larek asked running a hand through his hair, looking adorably nervous.

She wondered how much he knew about her situation, how much Zan had actually told him. But she decided to stick with a simple answer and a truthful one. "I have a knack for getting myself into trouble."

He nodded as if in understanding. "Ah, politics. We go to such lengths to keep our reigns appearing perfect to the general public."

She didn't comment, instead turning to face the sea again. She was so very tired of living in a world held together only by the gossamer thread of lies. He came to stand next to her, a finger absentmindedly twining itself in her hair.

She wondered about his world, a world where he could absentmindedly touch her and not worry if he would be killed for it. A world where the Chosen were free to marry and have children, even with royalty. A world where she would have been free to live her own life. A world where she could have married a King if she wanted to.

"I want to offer you asylum Miss Qaelia. Gods forbid you should ever need it, but I offer my planet as a haven of sanctuary to you. If you ever have to leave Antar, merely get word to us and we'll be happy to have you." He told her in a sad tone, the most serious she'd seen him yet.

She wondered if he'd heard the rumors of rebellion, of anarchy that were threatening Antar. She wondered if that's what they were talking about behind closed doors, what Zan was saying and if they were taking it seriously.

Instead she inclined her head gracefully, "Thank you, King Larek. It's nice to know that I have such good friends."

What she didn't tell him was that she would never leave Antar, never could, that it was so deeply in her blood that she'd die there before fleeing. She had a feeling he knew, but wouldn't open that can of worms.

He moved the hand twisted in her hair up, slipping it around her shoulders. She almost started, she wasn't used to physical contact other than Rath or occasionally Arhal or Tav. And Rath wasn't supposed to touch her at all, but Rath felt rules were beneath

him.

"Why is someone in Rath's army hurting you?" He asked, almost sharply, but more curiously.

"I'm not sure, politics I guess." She muttered, taking another long sip.

He nudged her, his voice sharper and filled with conviction. "Never let yourself be a pawn Q. It's not worth it, this life isn't for the weak of heart. Don't let him use you, don't let yourself become a player in all of this. It only ends badly."

At another time she might have been filled with anger at the words, but tonight she was only weary. She wondered if he spoke about the assassinations of his father and Zan's, or about his own life.

He turned her towards him, tilting her chin up just as Kivar had done. But this was different, it wasn't a jaded soldier leaning on a jaded priestess. No this was a man, looking down at a woman.

He brushed a lock of hair out of her eyes, smiling down at her tenderly. She felt acutely uncomfortable, this wasn't how this situation should be. He was looking at her how Rath looked at her sometimes and that scared her, because she didn't feel that way for him. And Rath would be furious if he found out.

Larek's face was so close that she could smell the woksa on his breath and it turned her stomach. She turned her face away, her voice trembling, "Your Majesty.."

He pulled away abruptly, turning away. "Forgive me, Qaelia. I was out of line. I .. I.."

He didn't finish his statement, instead striding off without another word. She stared after him startled for a second, then decided she didn't want any more visitors or upsetting conversations. So she slipped back into the treaty room and silently down the hallways, happily encountering nobody else.

Seeing not another soul, until she entered her own room. He was standing by the balcony, his posture rigid and his hands clenched in fists. She almost sighed, she didn't really want to deal with him right now. She just wanted to sleep.

He turned around the tic in his cheek evident, "Where were you? It's late you should have been here hours ago."

His voice was calm, controlled, infinitely moderated, the overly icy tones burning her. She turned away, she was to tired for him right now. She took off her shawl hanging it up as she spoke.

"You're not my keeper, Rath." She said softly.

"Aren't I? It's one of my many jobs, Qaelia." His voice was silky smooth, dangerous, pulling out her full name into something else entirely.

She didn't respond to that, there was no need to bait him. Instead she chose a question, letting it flow from her in calming tones.

"Why are you here?" She didn't mention that he'd made it clear that they were over, took his dog tags, then decided to have a fit and shake her.

His hand touched the side of her neck, coming to rest on her shoulder. She almost jumped away, but his touch was gentle. His voice was another story, it was still gruff, laced with craziness of his youth, taut with emotions he didn't want to feel.

"I promised I'd heal the bruises."

She half smiled, still facing away from him. Promises were the one thing you could always count on with Rath, the one thing he would never go back on.

"Ok." She said turning around. This was as close to an apology she'd ever get out of Rath about his earlier behavior. She was too tired to be angry with him, to pick a fight just now.

He looked at her for a moment, then turned away almost nervously. "I'll need to be able to see the bruises. So it would work best if you er, weren't wearing your dress…"

There wasn't really anything she could say to that. So with her face burning in embarrassment she slipped out of the dress, wrapping her arms around herself. She wasn't actually exposed at all, standing in her slip, but it was still making her feel so vulnerable.

"You can turn around now." She said softly, her nervousness making her exclamation into a soft vibrato.

He turned and stopped dead, freezing in place. He stared at her, his eyes glued to her with a burning intensity. She shifted her feet, she was used to Rath being intense, but not like this, this was different. The way he was looking at her made the room suddenly feel unbearably warm.

He guided her over to the bed, settling them both on the edge. Rath reached out, encircling her upper arms with his hands, covering a slew of bruises.

"Look at me." His voice was still rough, commanding her eyes upwards.

Their eyes met and the connection was there. He was in her, working through her to fix the bruises, but she was in him too. Here there were no barriers, nothing blocking her from his mind, and she took advantage of it. She'd been in his mind briefly before when he'd healed her other times, and it had never been like this. It had been icy, cool and controlled with all of the passions roiling under the thick layer of ice, with only cracks showing through.

Here, though, it was different. She wasn't standing on a frozen lake, peering down through it at the writhing passions he'd locked away. Here she was caught in the passions, the wind ripping around her, icy winds attempting to cool everything but not quite succeeding. The fires were raging, laughter echoing all around her. She turned away from the wind whipping at her face and was caught by an image of Kivar and Rath talking. A memory playing on loop over and over, she peered closer wanting to watch.

They were younger, much much younger, sitting in what looked like barracks on two beds right next to each other. They were whispering quietly, not to wake the other boys around them who were actually sleeping through the night.

"Rough dream." Rath commented, running his hands through his sweaty hair with an askance glance at his partner.

Kivar did the same, mirroring Rath by pushing his hair back, "Yeah."

Rath reached under the pillow, casually flicking his knife out and examining it. He asked a question, already knowing the answer. They were bound, but he knew the landscape wasn't from his newly returned memories. "Yours?"

"Yeah," Kivar exclaimed shakily rolling off the bed and started doing push ups.

Rath watched silently, spinning the knife absentmindedly. Neither one of them would be able to get any sleep until Kivar had calmed down.

"What was it, 'Var?" He asked abruptly, keeping his voice down so as not to wake up Nkyot in the next cot. They didn't really need him nosying around at the moment, they were friends, but this was something to be kept between partners. First rule of being bonded, keep your weaknesses to yourselves.

Kivar stopped his pushups, returning to his cot, his golden eyes haunted in his round face. "Home, but not the home I knew."

Rath had guessed as much, the acres of green and crops, war-torn and ravaged as they were, were distinctly from the Skylon territory. It wasn't a nightmare about battle, they'd both outgrown those a very long time ago, they had to with what they had been trained for.

"What was different?" He asked with a yawn, idly checking his reflection in the knife.

"This and that. Had to be a different time." Kivar told him as he motioned for the knife.

Rath threw it at him, a deadly shot that Kivar reached out and caught without thinking about it.

"Future or past?" Rath asked, musing. He felt like killing someone or starting a war.

"A13-" Kivar didn't get to finish the statement, Rath had already pounced. Landing on top of him, he'd disarmed Kivar and had a knife to his throat. This, this was the one thing he couldn't control. This overwhelming rage whenever that, that, number that used to be his name was mentioned. The blood from his slit wrists running down his arms and dripping onto Kivar's face.

"If you ever call me that again, I'll fracking kill you." It was a hiss, an angry snarl, pulling itself from the depths of his injured soul.

Kivar flipped him off looking thoroughly pissed, "Your fracking insane. By the fracking First Order, you need some serious therapy."

Abruptly she was pulled out of the memory, out of his mind, the healing complete. She wanted to ask about the memory, about the obvious kinship and odd form of friendship, complete with threats and comforting, that existed between the two. But she never got her chance.

His lips were crushing hers, his hand tangling in her hair, the other pulling her closer. She left out a soft noise, as he clutched her closer, pushing them back further onto the bed. It was weird to feel his hands caressing her bare arms, and the heat of him through just his slip, but it was nice too.

Beep Beeep. Beeeeep.

The loud wailing had him pulling away from her just as quickly as it had all started. He reached down, backing away from her almost frantically as if it was taking all his will to not come back to the bed, and pulling out his communicator.

"What?" It was a snap, though his eyes burning eyes never left hers as his chest heaved up and down with pants.

"There's been an emergency. Get to the meeting room ASAP and bring your second." Zan's cool voice decreed.

"I'm on it." Rath replied, already turning to go as he straightened the ever present uniform he wore.

He looked back at her, rubbing the back of his head. After a moment's hesitation he tossed the dog tags back at her. "I think these belong to you, now."

He left, looking almost relieved to be doing so. Actually he looked very relieved to have an excuse to back out of the room, and slightly out of control still, his breathing still ragged and his eyes still scorching her.

…………………….

Maria's eyes flashed open, the feeling of Rath's scorching gaze lingering for a second. She was so muddled, everything was hazy and painful, all she could feel was the ache burning at the back of her mind. But she had to tell him, had to tell Kyle that they we're going in the wrong direction.

She groaned, the pain making her nauseous, she just wanted it all to end. Kyle's face appeared in her line of vision, anxiously peering up, or was it down?, at her.

"Maria? How are you feeling? Wait, don't answer that, I can tell, pretty damn shitty. Like after eating 3 Will Smith burgers and finding out you still have football practice and puking all of them up…"

"Kivar.. not Rath… Kivar…" She tried to tell him, the message becoming jumbled. They didn't need to stop her meeting Rath, they merely had to stop Kivar.

"What? It's ok, he's not here…" Kyle tried.

But it was too late, he didn't get it and she was out of time.

And right before Kyle's eyes, she poofed.

……………….


	36. Chapter 29

**AN: New Part, First off I want to thank everyone for reviewing and not abandoning the story!! I love reading all of the reviews and comments. On a sidenote, this part is kind of Kyle-centric, so we'll see how that goes over. He's had postive feedback so far, but his life is about to get very complicated.**

**MnMGrl: I know what you mean about completed fics, I'm the same way because I'm so impatient :) Kyle, oh Kyle, he and Tess star in this part, not so much Michael and Maria becaus I'm a bit stuck on them at the moment. I'll have to do some research, by watching Candy episodes.**

**Journeylove: Congrats on graduating from HS, I hope your ceremony isn't as boring (or as long) as mine was last year. You have a knack for getting the more subtle things in the story! Arhal definitely has some underlying feelings for Q that with life he never gets to act on or really develop, whether it's romantic love or merely sadness at a friendship that ends so early in life I'll leave up to yall. It's gotten so complex I'm not surprised you had to read it over!**

**Candylovin Fehrian: I know what you mean about getting back into it, it took me awhile to get back into the groove of writing it. Kyle gets away with so much and I'm happy you adore him because this chapter is for Kyleholics. Your absolutely right about Nicholas, he's one of those people who's completly twistted on every level. I wanted to make Kivar more human, because we know he and Vilandra shared something really deep from the show, and I see him as having so many dimensions. He and Rath were close, he can't be straight evil. Maria and her poofing, is it even possible she won't poof herself straight into trouble?**

**Red-rumm: I didn't, well kind of. I tried to answer alot of questions in this chapter, but alot more of the answers we seek aren't for this chapter.**

**Tini: I'm happy its beautiful, it makes me smile!**

**Magali: I know, I was afraid everyone had forgotten. I explain a bit about the Gods in this part, actually a lot. I really like your quote at the end about peace and chaos it really got me thinking.**

**CandyGirl97: I love causing happy dances!**

Collision Part 29 "You were born for this"

_see you not like you do  
Not the part but the whole  
Stage lights on now take your cue  
Alright Alright Alright_

_Why so scared of your shadow  
Prisoner of your own life  
Sleeping on your star of gold  
Alright Alright Alright_

_No one else can play your part  
Liberate all of your dreams  
Speak the lines within your heart  
Alright Alright Alright_

"_You Were Born for this" Tremolo_

Tess awoke groggily, painfully. Her head was killing her, it ached so severely it took her eyes much longer than normal to focus. She tried to move, to stretch out but found herself stiff and immobilized. Panic hit her, grasping her heart tightly and causing its rhythm to skyrocket in speed as she heard his evil laughter. Oh Gods no.

She tried to pull her arms, nothing, she glanced upwards. She was bound to the cliff face, her arms chained to the solid rock, as well as her ankles. He was leaning nearby, staring at her with his cold, calculating gaze that held quite a bit of amusement.

"I wonder how many Queens have woken up in chains?" Nicholas asked lewdly, abandoning his post against the cliff, coming over to relish in her distress.

Tess straightened her shoulders, she could be scared later. Now she had to be strong, she had to be the Queen that ran in her blood, a queen without a country but a queen all the same. She let Tav rise in her, let her put the Queen's gaze onto her face. The look that was never disobeyed, the look that had made a Granal's blood run cold.

"I wonder how many of their captors have begged for mercy?" She asked proudly, her gaze piercing his. He didn't look away, but a small tic began in his cheek. Rath had once upon a time had the same tic, a sign of agitation, a sign of extra control having to be exerted. It was good to know she affected him, that even he wasn't immune to call in his blood to obey her.

He was quiet a moment then smiled the elite smile, the slightly insane smile. "The roles have changed this time, Your Majesty. Instead of tying that little snivel of a Chosen up and torturing her, I've decided to honor you. She was such a bore, so easy to break, I do hope you'll pose more of a challenge."

She didn't start at that, Tav's coolness running through her, coexisting with her effortlessly. The Queen had always been graceful and used to the give and take of power so coexisting with them wasn't the struggle it was for Rath and Michael, all or nothing. Tess felt her eyes darken considerably, a display of what she was becoming a true blend of her present and past. She didn't know exactly what had happened with Q and Nkyot, merely that there was a lot of pain and a lot of damage Rath had to heal. But Tess had no knight in shining armor to come rescue her and take away the pain, unless of course you counted Kyle.

Instead she stared coolly back, he could hurt her but her mental defenses were strong enough to guarantee that he wouldn't be able to penetrate them and read her mind.

"You're forgetting one thing." She calmly told him, knowing what she said wouldn't make a difference to this proud boy-child.

"What's that?" He asked idly, amused as he flicked a dagger out.

"That we aren't who we used to be. That Maria is not Q by any means." She told him, he didn't seem to quite realize that Maria was not the scared, controlled girl Q had been. Maria was the fighter Q had always wanted to be, the girl who handled Michael with ease, who didn't take crap off anyone.

"Does it really matter? At the core you're the same and at the end of the day you'll die the same." He responded annoyed that she had pointed out the obvious.

Tess/Tav merely smiled, he was in for a nasty shock.

But he continued on, aiming to wound. "I killed you first out of the Royals. Did you remember that?"

He paused to gage her reaction. The sadness was rising in Tav the memory pushing forward ready to draw them into it, what Tav remembered so would Tess.

His voice was a mixture of grudging respect for her and pleasure at the memory of the act, "Even then you died like a true Queen."

…………………..

She could hear the fighting in the halls surrounding their central throne room. It was only a matter of time now, then. Stifling a sigh and pushing that tiny fear mixed with depression she focused on Zan. He was pacing quickly, looking worriedly around, while armed to the teeth.

She walked over to him, reaching out and placing a calming hand on his arm. It wouldn't do to look so agitated and nervous for the servants and their court. Their fate for this life was sealed, it was time to pay the price for their mistakes.

He looked at her for a second, worry knitting his forehead, "Where is she?"

Tav shook her head, he'd taken Vilandra's defection horribly. "I don't know. Any news from Rath?"

He shook his head sharply, "He's aiming to get himself killed. He's the last defense between us and death."

Tav didn't say anything, privately she didn't blame, or condemn, Rath for craving death.

Zan stared at her for a second, then tenderly brushed a loose curl behind her ear, letting his hand rest on her cheek for a moment. A regretful smile touched his face for a moment before he handed her one of the weapons Rath had attempted to train her on, "Don't be afraid to use it."

She nodded almost absentmindedly, sending a reassuring smile at the servants huddled in the corner. She walked over to them, gracefully, her mask of aplomb still intact hiding whatever raging feelings were inside.

"Your Majesty, what's happening?" One of her ladies in waiting asked anxiously.

She smiled gently, reassuringly. "The castle is being attacked by rebels, but do not fear, whatever happens you are not in danger."

They looked calm so she walked away, she wasn't sure if what she'd said was completely true or not. But she had a feeling all Kivar and Vilandra were after was her and Zan's lives.

A curtain out of the corner of her eye moved, she turned towards it wary of what it meant. Rath slipped out from behind it. Tav narrowed her eyes as she approached, "Were you followed?"

Rath looked at her, saner than she'd seen him in a long time. He'd been getting slowly saner, as if the closer he came to his own death the better he handled the hole in his soul.

"No, I collapsed the passage behind me." It was a snap, as if she'd thought he wouldn't be thorough. No matter what, he was completely thorough in everything he did whether it was decimating an opposing army or starting an affair and taking it all the way to Granix.

She nodded, pushing away the thoughts of her own failed Granix. There would be time enough for all of that soon.

Zan arrived at her elbow, no tender love in his gaze now, only a weary hardness as he stared at Rath. "Did you find her?"

Rath's knife flickered, as if he was going to slit his wrist, but stilled as if a long ago memory stopped him. Her was much to of a general term to use with him anymore, there was only one her in his vocabulary.

"No." And it left unclear which her he was referring to, his or Vilandra, but the pain and self hate was evident.

Tav tried again, not bothering to see if Zan got the message. "So there's no word of Lonnie?"

He clenched his jaw, his anger evident and barely contained. "She's with Kivar, heading this way now. They want the crown."

Tav merely nodded, she knew the secret that the others didn't. "They won't get it."

Both Rath and Zan stared at her, but she gave forth no answers. What Zan wore on his head was merely a fake, a replica set to turn to ash when he died. The real power of the crown was locked away and safe. The nearer she got to death the more her powers seemed to grow and the clearer her visions came. She'd seen what Q had done in a dream, the premonition of exactly how she'd done it burned on her mind. The process was important, but for what Tav wasn't sure.

Zan looked at Rath, at the blood that soaked him, at the unholy light of the fight that burned in his eyes. He didn't have to ask.

"We're losing." It was a snarl, one that he hated to admit. The anger burning both of them.

"They used underhand tactics. Deru powder in the mess hall, so all my soldiers are giftless, they can only use physical skill. They came in an unguarded passage, one only my Seconds knew about. The list goes on." Rath extolled, like a true General but the underlying hatred and disbelief of the betrayal of his greatest friend stung so deep. It hurt him so much, ripped open another wound on his already torn soul.

Tav merely nodded, it had been planned for months, then. There was no hope they'd survive this, not with the state Rath was in. If he'd been whole, if this had been a few weeks ago, yes things would have been very different. Bu now she wasn't sure if he could take Kivar, if he even wanted to or if he just wanted to die.

Zan sensed it too, reaching out and putting a hand on Rath's shoulder. "Thank you, brother."

Rath nodded, but she saw the fire light in his eyes. Before everything else, he'd sworn to protect Zan with his life, to protect Antar. And he would, despite being badly injured.

A man approached, wearing the Royal Scientist robe, as the noise of the fighting hit the passage to their door. He looked at Rath. "Everything is ready, sir. The DNA is set to be blended if it comes to that."

Rath nodded as if he could care less, his hand clutching his side, "Fine."

He was dismissed, but Tav followed leaving Zan and Rath alone her heart beating oddly fast. This was something huge. "It's just our DNA isn't it?"

He looked at her for a long moment, "Only DNA, we don't know how to extract essences. The only person who did is dead."

Tav nodded, Q. She smiled slowly, she'd seen how in her vision. It was coming together. This was her gift to her family, the gift of memory. The chance to learn from the mistakes they made this time, to start a new life with a clean slate where you could see a story that had once played out.

"Do you have any vials on you? Or something to trap the essence in?" He looked at her for a long moment and withdrew four small oddly lined boxes.

"These should work, but what are you going to do, Your Majesty?"

She merely smiled and walked away. This was what the power was for, the power that had been burning in her veins for days, that was stronger than anything she'd ever had on her own.

The door flew open and the three of them stood in the doorway framed by the light. Kivar, Vilandra and Nkyot. They walked slowly in and she walked over to stand with Rath and Zan. Rath straightened, abandoning Zan whom he'd been leaning on for support. There they were, the 6 players standing across from each other in the middle of the throne room. One side dark and one light, or were they both gray? She wasn't sure, merely that this wasn't where it had to end.

She started to draw the power into herself, as she felt Rath and Zan doing, but hers was for a different purpose. She wasn't going to fight, not this life, but she would win in the end.

"Give us the crown and abdicate the throne, it's all we ask." Nkyot proposed talking to Zan.

But Tav was watching Kivar, he had eyes only for Rath, their eyes locked so intently that she almost looked away. This was the real test, the real issue, not her or Zan or Nkyot, though she doubt he knew that. There was anger and regret, hatred and sorrow, a broken friendship in pieces all around them, a broken brotherhood stabbing both of them. But above everything else she still sensed the bond, no matter what they went through even now, they were still bound. They'd been through so much, changed and lied, but at the heart of things they were still tied, still brothers and that would never change. Because even now she could tell Kivar didn't want to hurt Rath, and that Rath understood Kivar, he may have hated him for it but he understood.

Zan laced his fingers with hers for a bare second, catching her eyes. A moment of beauty, of shared love, in this tense moment. A last moment to the testament of their love, of the life they'd shared. She understood, a small smile, then he turned back to Nkyot.

"No." It was simple, it was one word that sealed their fates of a violent death.

Nkyot smiled a slow, snakelike smile. But Vilandra was the next to speak, imploring both sides.

"Zan, please. You can be Kivar's head advisor, it's for peace. He can unite Antar, bring the feuding races to a stop. This doesn't have to be violent." She implored her brother, showing just how brainwashed she'd become. Antar was already at peace, this would ruin that.

"It's a little late for that, don't you think Lonnie? Or have you already forgotten my wife?" Rath's voice was venomous, not bothering to hide the lack of sanity or the aching pain that ate his soul.

She looked away, as if she'd been slapped. Nkyot smiled at the mention of Q and found himself thrown across the room, violently colliding with the wall and sliding down. Retaliation was rapid a bolt of energy shot, not at Rath but at Zan. Tav saw it a second before he shot it, shielded and stepped in front of her husband.

Her shield snapped and she found herself launched across the room, flying backwards. Impact.

Her vision grayed for a moment and pain stabbed at her, eating at her. She looked down at the shaft protruding from her stomach. Then Zan, Rath and Lonnie were all there. She'd never guessed she'd die by accident, by hitting a chair it breaking and stabbing her. But here it was all the same.

It was time.

She felt another soul touch hers, one that wasn't whole. Q's, only the dying can be tools of the dead. She let her in, let her soul rush down the connection they'd formed so long ago on her bed as Tav healed her mind from the First Order. She let Q's power into her. All the power of the universe, of Antar, of the Gods she'd served and abandoned, of Rath. She let it flow through her, burning her insides white as she reached out for Zan first.

She pulled at his soul, at his memories directing them and binding them to a new fate. Binding them, upon his death to the little open box she dropped on the floor. She bound power into, so it would shut of its own accord.

She could hear Zan's voice faintly, as if he was in another world, he was telling her that he loved her and asking why she'd taken the hit for him.

She reached out, touching Lonnie, pulling at her soul doing the same thing. Tying her memories, her life, her soul into a new path. A path where it would become an essence to be injected into the DNA that was sent. She dropped another box, it would await her soul when she died.

Rath's was the most resistant, without Q she wouldn't have been able to. It fought and struggled against its new fate, it didn't want to go to Earth it wanted to go to its other half. Q surged stronger through her, taking a hold of it, showing it the promise of being whole in its next life.

She took her own, forcing it's will to the box. Making it the only option for her soul to go to, turning away from where it was once bound she burned it to the vortex in the box. When she left, when she was reborn she would have the chance to learn, to not make the mistakes she made this time.

She dropped the last box and let the power of the dead fade from her. She'd changed the path of 4 souls, bound them to past mistakes and lives, bound them to be the last hope of Antar.

She looked up, focusing back on her fading world, the three of them were frozen, unmoving. For a horrible second she thought she'd ripped their souls right out rather than merely giving them a new destination when the time came, but then she saw the small dart in Zan's neck. Poison.

She shuddered, they're fate would be worse than hers then. Not merely an easy death.

Nkyot was right in front of her now, smiling coldly.

"Any last words?" He asked flippantly, holding the dagger.

Her mind was already looking forward, the lines blurred with premonition between this life and the next.

She merely smiled, lifted her chin and gazed at him like a Queen, then past him to Kivar. Her life was over, but her people were a different story.

"Promise me no harm will come to my court and servants."

Kivar nodded solemnly, "No harm will come to them and we will let them tend to you all however they wish."

She nodded, she was ready to die like a true Queen. But her mind was already looking forward to her next life with her family. Her only regret was not getting to say a proper goodbye to Zan, or tell him how much she loved him. But there would be time enough for that on Earth.

As the dagger went across her throat her last image was one of salvation.

A human boy with wavy brown hair, bright blue eyes and a mischievous smile.

………………………………………

Kyle looked at the spot where Maria had been for a long moment, before looking back to the aliens.

"What did she say?" Arhal asked.

Kyle glared, irrationally angry that he'd bothered to ask. So much for all knowing. "Something about Kivar, and not Rath."

Arhal leaned back thinking, "It doesn't mean anything to me. What about you, Q?"

She shook her head after a moment. "Nothing."

Kyle turned on Arhal, "Where's your all knowing now?"

Arhal glared back for a moment then answered. "It's not fail safe when it comes to you or Maria. Or anyone who hasn't had their akino yet. They aren't a part of the collective conscious so my mind, my gift, isn't directly linked to them."

"Great that's just bombastic." Kyle muttered sarcastically, while privately deciding that Arhal was a lot less like Buddha than he'd previously thought.

"So she's back with Michael?" Kyle asked to cover his slip.

"I certainly hope so," Arhal said looking intently at Q.

She stared back and something passed between them, something that with the alien body language or ability to talk mind to mind that Kyle couldn't get. And he was sick of it, sick of only getting to know half of what was going on.

"Game's over. It's time to let me in on the plan, on everything. No more secrets, that's what got everyone killed last time and I don't want to join that club." Kyle exploded, glaring at the two secretive aliens.

Q nodded after a moment, "We're leaving in a few hours to go to the battlefield, Grasshopper. I will be singing laments all w need to do is distract me so that I don't notice Rath stealing my xehg."

Kyle stared at her for a moment in disbelief, did she actually believe that her plan would prevent everything? If so she had a serious complex, she was important but she wasn't the whole base for the mess they found themselves in. She and Rath weren't the only ones who'd made mistakes along the way.

"Are you actually serious?" He asked, looking between Arhal and Q. Arhal seemed to agree with him, a small knowing smile gracing his face.

Q nodded vigorously, "Of course then Rath and I won't meet and nothing will be set in motion."

Thanks be to Buddha Maria had been born with a brain and not like this.

"You do realize that you and Rath have other chances to meet, you sing at the palace he goes to the event. If it's meant to be Q, the Gods will just find another way to hook y'all up." Kyle explained patiently as if to a small child, or a football jock. Though he was disconcerted with how alien religion preachy he sounded, explaining their First Order mumbo jumbo and actually knowing what he was talking about. All of this alien stuff was really ruining his personality, he needed some quality meditation time, some beer and sports and to have a long talk with Alex.

Q started to wax poetically about how her plan would work, blah blah but Kyle's eye was caught by something else. Something moving and crawling near the corner. He grabbed the long knife thing Arhal had leaning in the corner and crept closer.

It was a bug, an achingly familiar bug. His heart beat faster, he recognized this, this was an alien version of his old foe!

The antarian scorpion!!

Was he to be the sole defender for all planets from this foe? Was he the Scorpion Killer of the entire universe?

Yes, Kyle decided, yes, yes he was. _Maybe I should start dressing like a superhero, or at least get scorpion proof armor. I could do the Spider Man thing, but with a Scorpion on my chest, minus the spandex and the freaky mask. No need to cover up my good looks, it would be a disservice to the world. So it wouldn't really be like Spider Man at all. Armor would be cool though, look all like a knight, but I'd have to have a cowboy hat. All wild west, and chicks so dig cowboys, especially city girls. I wonder what Tess thinks of cowboys? Hmm, I bet she likes them. So definitely some good boots, a great tool for killing the scorpions, a Stetson and ooh, yes, a scorpion belt buckle!!! I'll have to ask Isabel for help on making it._

His prey moved again, causing Kyle to somewhat refocus to his situation. It moved its multiple little legs, advancing on him, raising its tail as if getting ready to strike. Kyle circled it for a moment, his thoughts starting to run free again. _I need a scorpion specific weapon, though I do so well with improvisation with what's on hand. Like last time the wonderful, flick and stomp maneuver, now I have this handy knife thing. I wonder if beheading scorpions works well, but I have to watch the tail. The tail is it, it, hmmm it isn't deadly enough. Needs a name, something alien since after all I am eliminating an alien threat. I know, I'll call my foe, Kivaro. Witty and slightly insulting, perfect. Ok, back to strategy. It's not on me so no flick and stomp, maybe a decoy maneuver then a quick chop? But what if I miss? Wait, I'm Kyle "Scorpion Slayer of the Universe" Valenti, I Never Miss._

It was time to act, and he did, brilliantly. Kyle feinted to the left then chopped down quickly bisecting the head from the body. It zapped and fizzled, causing him to jump back and Arhal to come over quickly.

"Did that just spark?" He asked sharply.

Kyle nodded, proud that he'd vanquished his enemy but confused over whether alien bugs were electrical.

Arhal cursed softly then picked it up and examined it, "Listening device."

He tossed it away with anger, and Kyle stared at it for a moment then grinned.

"So I really did something good. I caught a spy!!! I caught a spy!!!" He exclaimed gleefully, proud that his super skills were so finely tuned.

"You would be a better soldier if you learned how to center yourself and let go of this childish view of fighting." Q said, sounding for all the world like Rath as she reached down and picked up the little electronic bug.

Kyle quirked an eyebrow at her, "So who's is it, oh might one?"

She bristled at that, glaring at him sharply. She examined the device intently, with practiced hands serving to confirm Kyle's suspicions.

"Did Rath come out to play?" He asked, wondering if that part of their soul was tired of hiding. He was on such a high from slaying the scorpion that he was willingly playing with fire, baiting Rath.

Showing remarkable restraint for someone with Rath living inside them Q merely gave Kyle the coldest glare he'd ever received and answered his question.

"It's one of Kivar's."

Kyle grinned, "I'm sooo psychic. I'd named it Kivaro."

"Ooook, grasshopper. Whatever you say." Q said drawing it out and sounding just like Maria or Tess or any of his girls when they thought he was crazy.

"I'll check the rest of the tent for more devices," Kyle declared, shooting back at Q, ready to display his skills again.

Arhal held up his hand, "Don't bother, that was the only one."

"Why is Kivar spying on you?"

Another slow smile, "He's not, he's acting under orders from Rath at this point. Seems Rath had some unusual dreams that made him uneasy." Arhal said his eyes calmly fixed on Q at the last part.

"Besides the army is curious as to why I'm here especially with two unidentified helpers."

Kyle turned a disapproving glare onto Q, well more specifically onto the Rath part inside of her. He got no sympathy.

"I spy on everyone, it's not like Arhal is special."

Hmmm, maybe that's where Michael got his stalkerish tendencies from?

"Obviously not everyone," Kyle muttered, thinking of Kivar.

There was a beat of silence coated in unveiled hostility. Kyle, as much as he though Q was bonkers, preferred her sweet naivety to Rath's cold version of their soul. It was so glaringly obvious that he wasn't Michael that he wouldn't just growl and whine, he would actually go through with the threats he made because Kyle wasn't really one of his trusted friends.

Arhal interrupted it, "We should get ready to head out now."

…………………………….

"Turn the car around." It came from the backseat, his voice sounding as if it had been dragged across broken glass.

Max glanced at Alex, who'd stopped his phone conversation with Liz to glance back.

"Why?" Max asked not slowing down.

"Because Maria's there." It was like an explosion with Michael grabbing the back of Max's seat and shaking it.

Max didn't slow down as he whipped the jeep around, heading back to the desert.

……………………………………………………

Isabel slunk around the huge rock formation quietly. She wasn't sure why she was here, except that she'd been drawn, pulled at, her soul in disarray until she came. She hated this, these moments that didn't seem to be her own, these moments when someone else exerted control over a part of herself she tried to deny. Damn you, Vilandra.

She glanced around the next corner and her breath caught in her throat. Tess, chained to a wall with Nicholas casually sharpening a knife. Oh gods, what was she going to do? She had to get Tess out of there.

That thought stopped when a bit of dust and rock tumbled down on her. She glanced up in surprise, only to see a very confused looking Maria sitting on the ground halfway up the cliff. So now she was stuck, try and get Maria before the Skins noticed her or try and save Tess.

Too late, they'd spotted Maria and were now dragging her forcibly down the mountain with Maria berating them at the top of her lungs.

"Get your nasty peeling hands off of me. Do you want to die? Yeah, you I'm talking to you. Remember Rath? Yeah, he's gonna kill you for this. Or I am. If not he'll do worse. I said don't touch me there!"

A well placed kick and one of her escorts went flying off the side of the cliff to land with a sickening thump. The other one fed up just grabbed her and slung her over his shoulder and drug her down the mountain.

"Why hello, Vilandra. You never could stay away from the party." His voice startled her out of watching Maria's show. She spun to see Nicholas standing directly in front of her.

"Hello." She stated, her heart racing and her mind trying to think of something.

"Did you come to watch my show?" He queried demonically.

"No. I came here to make a trade." She said quickly, wondering what she had to trade. Tess was shaking her head frantically behind Nicholas.

"And what, little princess, would you have to offer?" He asked stepping closer and eyeing her in a most indecorous way.

"Myself and the Granolith." She said calmly, it was her turn to pay for the mistakes she'd once made.

He laughed in her face, doubling over at his waist. Before straightening up, "Oh, my self absorbed poppet, you don't matter. You never mattered, you were always merely a tool but never could admit it. You're still a tool now."

That stung deep, deep enough to startle her enough to allow guards to grab her.

"I wasn't a tool to Kivar, he loved me." She denied as she was flung up against the wall next to Tess and they started chaining her up.

Nicholas shook his spiky head and smiled, "Loved you enough to kill you and send you to this Godforsaken planet."

Isabel fell silent, not that it mattered with both Maria and Tess running their mouths.

"I want Michael, I need to see him. You leave the two of them alone, this doesn't concern them. I know exactly what happened last time between the three of you and all about Kivar.-"

"I hope you realize that this time isn't yours to win. No matter what you do, in the end you'll be the one who disappears.-"

He cut them both off with a piercing, searing pain that struck all three of them. It felt like her brain was on fire, waiting to explode again and again.

It stopped just as abruptly, an eternity or a moment later Isabel wasn't sure. But when her vision finally cleared she looked over to see how the other girls were doing. Maria was shaking and looked like she was going to be sick, but Tess, Tess was another story. She looked furious, madder than Isabel had ever seen her.

"Now, you. I wasn't expecting to have the pleasure of seeing you in this position again, my siren. But it seems the Gods are smiling on me today." Nicholas said walking over to stand in front of Maria.

She glared back, lifted her head and spit directly into his face.

Isabel felt horror rise up in her throat with an insane desire to laugh at how he looked. He looked like an irate preteen with her spit running down his face and dripping off. Slowly he reached up and wiped it out of his eyes and when he looked at Maria Isabel felt her blood run cold and her heart threaten to stop. She'd seen that look before, countless times, seen it on his face, on Kivar's and Rath's. It was a look of someone so angry, so pissed, that they were completely past rational, completely gone to the insane cruelty that ran in the Elite soldier's veins. It was the look of death.

He calmly, too calmly, reached out and wrapped his hand around her neck and squeezed. He leaned closer, to whisper in her ear, "You shouldn't have done that."

Isabel struggled against her chains and silently cursed Maria for doing it. Why would she purposely antagonize Nicholas? Was she so out of control, so emotional that she couldn't help her self? What was it about her and Michael that felt the need to make any situation as dangerous and hostile as possible, why did they have to take everything to the critically nuclear point?

Maria laughed, though it came out a strangled gurgle. She was laughing in his face even as he choked her. And Isabel was starting to wonder if Maria had finally lost it and gone off the deep end into crazy.

Abruptly he let go as if he'd been burned. Maria was still laughing, "Can't kill me, remember? You're not supposed to hurt the goods or anger the Gods."

He backhanded her almost idly, as if to prove her wrong. She slowly turned her head back to face him her eyes burning into his with an intensity that caused Isabel to look away, "Kill me as many times as you want. It won't change anything, Kivar still won't get his precious crown."

He ignored her and Maria dropped her head back to the ground. Instead he turned his attention back to Tess, "Where did we leave off?"

Tess' voice was completely calm, not betraying any of the fire that burned in her eyes. "Here."

Isabel felt the mental bomb hit Nicholas, almost as acutely as if had hit her. He staggered back and all Isabel could think to do was fling her own power at him, her own emotions. Her hatred, her broken dreams, her disappointments were flung at him and came flying right back.

But he hit back through his pain, his training paying off forcing a mirror shield . Everything she'd sent had rebounded onto the three of them, and his own power came bursting into her mind. The screams tore from her throat again and again and the pain slowly faded away. Her vision cleared even slower this time and she looked back at the other two, momentarily ignoring her enemy.

Maria's head snapped up, looking past them, her eyes locked on something or someone that Isabel's view blocked. A slow smile spread across her face like the sun suddenly shining on a cloudy day.

She couldn't see what Maria saw, but she knew what it meant. There was only one person who could make Maria smile like that in a situation like this.

Michael had arrived.

…………………………………………………………...

Arhal pulled the xehg to a stop in the middle of the bushes. He looked at the two of them, "This is as far as I go."

"You're not coming with us?" Q asked, looking distraught.

Kyle understood why without having to ask. At the end of the day they were still on Antar, Arhal still couldn't interfere.

"I'm still bound not to interact, pet." Arhal said quietly.

She reached over and impulsively hugged him, clinging to him for a long moment with whispered thanks. She then popped out of the xehg in a hurry leaving Kyle and Arhal in the vehicle.

Arhal reached into his robe and handed Kyle a small syringe. "Take this, Kyle."

Kyle looked at it for a moment then back at Arhal. "What is it? And what about what you just said?"

A small smile, "Loophole. I'm bound not to interfere with Antar, and the souls from here, you Kyle, are human. I can interfere with you all I want. It's a fast acting sedative, should you chose to use it. I leave the choice up to you, only you. Antar's future is in your hands."

Arhal sure knew how to put pressure on a guy. Kyle slipped it into his pocket after a moment, "Thanks."

Then he followed Q out of the car, where she was waiting impatiently, looking for all the world like an impatient Maria. It caused him to produce one of his first smiles on Antarian soil, wistful as his smile was.

His thoughts were a jumble as he followed her to their hiding place. Could he really erase Maria and Michael? Could he cut out Max, well yes, probably. Would his life have been better without the existence of aliens? Would he and Liz still be together, probably not, they were just too different. Would he have ever seen Alex and Maria as more than 'rejects', people outside of his crowd that were a bit odd? No, probably not, he would have breezed through high school living the dream, envied by others but dissatisfied on the inside. He wouldn't be a better person, he wouldn't have found Buddha, his salvation.

Then he heard it, as Q pulled him into the long grass with her. It was the most beautiful sound ever, the most beautiful music. He heard the gift that had gotten her killed, the voice that could have prevented a war or started one with only a few notes. The long, flowing, lamenting notes reached down into his soul and he could almost feel it lift up and be set free. The sadness was evident but also tinged with happiness, with the gift of love. For those few moments Kyle felt as if he understood the circle of life, the cycle of life and death and everything in between, he was at complete peace and in touch with Buddha like he'd never been before.

It also woke something in him, something bound so deep and lying so far away from his consciousness that he would have never known it existed.

Now only one question remained as his Q was starting to stand. Could he live without Tess, without having ever met her, known her?

The answer was immediate, sincere and overwhelming.

No.

He tackled Q, he wouldn't let her steal Tess away from earth. He slipped the syringe out of his pocket and stabbed her in the arm. He kept his knee in her back, immobilizing her with his hand on her mouth until her fight subsided and she was left sleeping.

What Kyle didn't see from his point in the low grass was Q's head snap up and stop singing at the noise of him tackling Q. He didn't see her spot Rath, who'd been silently slipping into her xehg, but he heard her start yelling at him and her footsteps as she went by. What Kyle didn't realize and maybe never would, was that he and Q, were the reason she caught Rath stealing her vehicle at all. They'd come to the past to change it, to fix this moment and prevent the two from meeting and instead perhaps they'd caused it.

"What do you think your doing, this is MINE. You can't steal it…"

"I outrank you, priestess. I need it to get to the king." Rath argued back, their voices fading as they moved away in the vehicle.

Kyle laid there for at least a minute in the silence, making sure they were gone. Slowly he crouched and looked around, making sure there was nobody there to see them. Then he stood, lifting Q in his arms. He walked back to the hidden xehg with Arhal inside and opened the back door and dumped her there. He got in the front seat with a side long glance at Arhal.

"How long will she be out for?" Kyle asked, feeling unusually subdued. He felt robbed of his light hearted demeanor, this heavy weight of responsibility that went with aliens taking a toll on his soul. He'd already seen it's touch on his father, Maria and Liz, even Alex to an extent.

Arhal started up the vehicle, "A few hours. What's the plan now?"

Kyle stared at him, "Why are you asking me? You're the oracle."

A small smile, "But I still can't directly interfere since your now calling the shots for Antar's future instead of merely Q's."

"Oh, goody." Kyle declared a touch bitterly, even though a maniacal part of him was leaping at the idea. He needed to be able to think about the situation, but to do that he had to completely understand it.

"I have a few questions." Kyle said after a moment, deciding to ask the only person who would actually answer his questions.

Arhal smiled that slow, knowing smile. "I thought you might. Go ahead, I'm quite at my leisure."

Kyle nodded, drumming his fingers, thinking about Tess. "Can you explain this Granix thing to me? Like why is it Maria and Michael are still together and Max and Tess have branched out."

"Let me start with explaining the bond. Antarians have two levels of marriage, the first type is like your Earth institution, living together, legally bound, love, and the second is the Granix bond. The Granix takes the two souls, in reality both are just half a soul, and bind them together for that lifetime. The two people have one soul and share everything, their feelings, their emotions, their locations. But there are limitations to the Granix bond, not every couple is capable of it. Like Tav and Zan, for example, they were never able to Granix because Tav had Granixed previously with another, Kelar, who died. And sometimes the Gods merely won't let a couple, if their souls aren't compatible or they don't think it will be beneficial/ will be used against them."

Kyle sat there for a minute, trying to absorb this information then attempted to clarify. "You said each person is just half a soul, so do people only Granix with the other half of the same soul?"

Arhal shook his head, "Have you considered going into religion, you would make a very good vessel. Anyway you hit the big issue on the head. It all comes back to the Antarian cycle of reincarnation and karma. Just like on earth it's very hard for two soulmates to actually find each other, when I say soulmates I mean two people that share the same soul."

Kyle cut in eagerly, "That's what Maria and Michael are."

A sad smile, "Yes, they are one of the lucky few. But like I was saying, two people can merge their souls together for a given lifetime to create one soul. They may do this with different people for many lifetimes, eventually when the Real soul, half souls of both soulmates, are ready for I guess you would call it Nirvana, they meet. Then if all goes well they Granix, this time for eternity instead of life, and have a peaceful life. When they die they aren't reincarnated unless they chose to be, instead they are able to experience the same peace of that last life for eternity, as one full soul. If they choose to go back to Antar they aren't separated, they usually come back as a Chosen with a full soul, one that doesn't have the need or desire to Granix."

Kyle pondered this, letting it mull over for quite awhile before asking the big questions. "So if Maria and Michael are soulmates, as you put it, and they were Granixed last time, why are they here?"

Arhal pulled the xehg into the bushes at the sounds of an approaching vehicle. He turned in his seat to look directly at Kyle, "Like I said they are an exception. Rath's soul, as you know, is a very special case all on it's own. This lifetime is supposed to be his last, his final redemption for his crimes long past, but there are many Gods and each have been gifted their own power from the One, some of these Gods chose against the others. Certain Gods have decided not to let this be the happy ending for him, and taken action against him, to finally destroy him."

"Remind me never to piss one of them off, they can hold a grudge forever." Kyle muttered. Then paused as the idea hit him.

"Kivar. They're working through Kivar."

Arhal nodded slowly, "Yes, and they've been planning this for a very long time, lifetimes. But their plan won't go off as set, he won't die and disappear with them getting the last laugh and be bitter and upset throughout his afterlife. Your Tav changes that when she dies, she binds his half soul to a future on Earth and Q's is bound to follow. Which is why you get graced with the presence of Maria and Michael."

Kyle wasn't sure whether to be angry at Tess for inflicting Michael on Roswell, New Mexico or to thank her. All he knew is that this information had definite blackmail potential. Deciding he would leave that planning for later he focused back in on the situation.

"So it all goes back to Kivar and whatever Gods are behind him…" He mused aloud.

Arhal nodded, "So what, if anything, are you going to do about it?"

Kyle worked it out aloud, "There's no way Q and I could surprise him enough to kill him. And it sounds like that probably wouldn't work since he has the whole divine message thing going. Plus, I don't want to kill him, Buddha promotes peace over killing."

Arhal nodded as if he was listening very intently and Kyle got the feeling he wasn't the only one listening to him, that there was something greater listening through Arhal. "If you could, what would you like to do to him?"

Kyle had to think about this for a long moment for once letting his sensible side rather than his joking side show. "I would do one or the other, maybe both. I would give him a time limit as King, long enough to achieve his goal but not long enough to completely ruin Antar. I would also give him a severe conscience, one that truly makes him understand how his actions are affecting people, affecting his friends. And I would never let him forget what he did to his best friend, Rath. Eventually with such a heavy weight of guilt he would want to do the right thing."

Arhal seemed to shift within himself, and then he began to change. His eyes lightened to a shining, luminescent opal and his posture shifted, straightening. The vehicle filled with a tangible presence, a presence that both awed and scared Kyle. It, They, made his skin tingle and his hair stand on end, but he felt oddly calmed by them, as if he'd been meditating, reassured of the existence if divinity, and a good natured divinity at that.

"Buddha help me." He whispered, then almost kicked himself. Did praying to another God in a deity's presence get you automatically fried? He didn't want to get fried, or electrocuted, or struck down by freakish lightening, or imploded, or turned into a frog or any of the other things they might do to him. He just wanted to make bad jokes and run around with an overly inflated ego saving the universe from scorpions and tagging some eraser room time with Tess.

A deep laugh rumbled from Arhal's lips, "We're not quite your Buddha, but close enough. We all come from the same power, you just use another name and face for your worship."

Kyle nodded vigorously, this was the one time in his life he would hold his tongue and not talk back. This wasn't like the teachers he sassed in school, or his dad he copped an attitude with, or when he got all sarcastic with Max. This was a deity and he was going to be a good boy, and stay a living boy.

A gentle smile touched Arhal's lips, similar to his normal one but slightly off. "You are quite unexpected, Kyle Valenti, as valiant as your name suggests but still grounded and with a fresh humorous outlook on life."

"Uh, Thanks?" Kyle said, excited at being praised by Gods but also wary. It was like Michael giving you a compliment, it just didn't happen, and if it did it was for a reason or you were Maria. He knew they didn't just manifest themselves to tell him how cool he was, and he was starting to wonder what they wanted.

"We have long been away from the Royal Four and our own Qaelia, much too long away. You have shown much devotion and loyalty to your friends, more than is necessary, you left your own planet and time to come back here with Q and Maria. It amazes us and with your devotion to your Buddha you puzzle us, but also hopefully give us a fresh opportunity."

"What's that?" Kyle asked, starting to get the idea that he was in fact that opportunity.

Arhal's lips twitched as if Arhal himself was suppressing laughter.

"We would like to make you one of our Chosen."

………………………………………………………


	37. Chapter 30

**AN: We're getting close to the end, (I think) so I really really want to thank everyone for the reviews, support and fanatic interest you guys have shown in the story and characters!**

**X5-459: I'm happy to have picked up a new reader! I reallly tried to stay true to the characters and always thought Tess got kind of a bad wrap, the writers just used her as a cop out. I want to show more of Kyle and Tess and it definitely getting there.**

**JCFreak23: Your about halfway through to getting caught up, and I think aroudn then chapters start getting ridiculously long. I have a timeline posted to help keep people straight on the memories, it might be helpful. I was always relly curious about Antar and how their past could effect their present, because Roswell always seemed to be leading there with this huge epic past they supposedly had, but never quite made it on the show. Anyway I hope you like what you keep reading!**

**Candylovin Fehrian:I love Kyle, and I wanted to show how he grows because in a way that was one of the few highlights of season three, seeing kyle progress into a multidimensional character who did more than just shoot out quips. Youll have to read and see about how he deals with his "offer". Isabel will find strength, but whether it will be the strengh of past love or current loyalty we've yet to find out. We're at the rock formation but not quite the finale!**

**Tini: Of course I had to blame something as big as Rath and Q meeting on Kyle, a bit of payback for all the blackmailing he does.**

**Red-rumm: Oh kyle, he'll have a lot to say, he's a chatty boy. **

**Magali: Your right about Rath and Q, ultimately they were a stepping stone to finding eternal happiness. Their lives, the people they'd been forced to become from situations could have never truly been happy. I did look up more on the fractal theory, it's really sparked some ideas!**

**journeylove: ah justin, when his album first came out my roomate kept it in our cd player for 5 days straight 24/7 so I know what you mean about getting him stuck in your head. I wish i could have been head writer on the show!!!**

**MnMGrl: I know what you mean about fluff, but Roswell the show had such a delicate balance between drama and humor that I wanted to try and keep that, though there are parts in this fic where its super dramatic and sad. I'm happy you feel involved like you can will it!  
**

Collision Part 30 "Seems Uncertain"

_It seems uncertain  
I wish it was forgone  
To know the version  
That made life go wrong_

Wish I had a clue  
What rearranged our molecules  
Mostly wondering  
It seems uncertain 

In times of trouble  
Everyone joins a team  
No one waves a flag  
For all human beings

No one's excited  
Unless they are divided  
Someone's going to have to give in  
"Seems uncertain" 311

"We would like to make you one of our Chosen."

It took a few moments of disbelief before it sunk into Kyle's brain. Then he started laughing, they had to be kidding right? He was probably the most irresponsible person he knew, he wasn't exactly Chosen material. Maybe this was like a last resort for them, because Maria wasn't here. Yeah.

"Um, don't you already have one in Maria? Because Q was one last time…" He tried, though his efforts did nothing to suppress the hysteria in his voice.

Arhal shook his head, slowly, gracefully as they spoke through him. "No, we released her at her death. She is no longer ours, she is merely Rath's now."

"Oh." What he really wanted to do was make the Scooby-doo confusion noise, but he had a feeling they wouldn't get it.

"So am I convenience thing, like I came so I get to be the lucky one made into an alien priest? Because I really think Alex or Liz would be better suited." He asked, though a split second later he realized his last statement was wrong. Alex and Liz wouldn't be better suited, well maybe Alex, but he was too easily pressured by friends and just wanted so bad to help everyone that he couldn't grasp the idea that sometimes you shouldn't help them. And Liz, Liz was just too scientific and pragmatic to be a tool of Gods, she already had all of her own plans for life setup. Kyle didn't, he didn't plan ahead he'd always just been waiting for something to happen, to fall into place. It seems it had.

"No, you are our choice, our only choice. If you say no, that is fine, but we won't go asking your friends."

Kyle nodded, something shifted in him, changed and settled in to something beginning to feel like acceptance. So this was it, what he'd been waiting for, the greatness he'd craved. Funny, how things never turned out how he imagined them. He'd always thought he would be some great warrior or leader getting all the women instead he would be a great priest. A priest.

"Whoa there, buddy. I've got some questions about this job. Like does it involve celibacy?" He blurted it out, teenage boy hormones still running strong. Then a beat later he felt like an idiot, it was a familiar sensation, one that helped ground him. At least once a day that idiot feel of shame rushed on him a beat after he opened his mouth.

Laughter, genuine laughter, whether it was the Gods or Arhal's he wasn't sure. "No, that's not part of the job description. We will let Arhal explain more about 'the job' as you call it, and let you decide."

And the presence disappeared leaving the two of them and Q still sleeping in the backseat. Kyle grinned, suddenly feeling like a kid again. "You know some warning would have been nice, or not being offered literal Godhood in an alien car pulled off to the side of the road. I kind of feel like some loser girl who just got the moves put on her by the cool guy in school."

Arhal merely gave him a blank stare, then, shook his head as if trying to understand the metaphor and failing miserably. He decided to ignore it. "You haven't been offered Godhood. Just a chance to serve them in the closest way possible."

"Hmm, a glorified servant, that doesn't sound cool at all." Kyle was starting to feel more like himself.

Arhal grinned, catching the overgrown kid vibe, "But you get to do cool stuff like this."

He shifted backwards so half his body was outside the car, passing through the door, then brought himself back into the enclosed space. Kyle jumped back against his own door in surprise, quite painfully, "What the hell?"

Arhal laughed at his reaction, "We can walk through walls, pass through solid matter. Well most of us can. It's one of our more interesting quirks."

"So I would get super powers?" Kyle asked, this job suddenly sounding a lot more cool than just being a priest.

Arhal had the grace not to roll his eyes. "You would be gifted, yes. We each have our own set of gifts, I'm the oracle, I'm all knowing. Q's voice, you heard it, is her gift. One of the other Chosen can control the weather."

Hmm, controlling the weather would be kinda cool. He could cause tons of freak heat waves, then snow storms so they got out of school. He sighed, but that one was already taken and probably pretty unhelpful in his situation.

"What would be my gift?" He asked, eager to know how cool he would get to be.

"They want to gift you with the power to control time and space. The ability to freeze time or move it backwards and the ability to control space in the sense that you can create portals between here and Earth."

That was so fracking cool! Kyle grinned like a fool the narrowed his eyes, remembering what had been said so many times. "Everything has it's price. What would I have to do for them?"

"Ah, yes. The catch as you humans call it. In exchange for this you give the Gods a foothold in your soul, let them do their work and will through you, you become part of our brotherhood, become one of us, the Chosen."

"Dad always said never to sell your soul to the devil. Funny, I never thought it was a literal thing." Kyle shook his head, thinking of his father with a sharp pang, his dad would either be really proud or kill him.

"What would they want to use me for?" He asked, resolutely pushing away thoughts of his father and the weird mental image of Mrs. De Luca chasing after him waving an alien doll.

Arhal looked out the window for a long moment, "What do they use any of us for? Too make things right. To undo the mistakes they made, and the messes we've made for ourselves. To make this planet, this universe, a place worth living."

"That reminds me of something my Dad used to always say, 'If you're not part of the solution, then, you're part of the problem.'" Normally he would have turned it into a Buddha quote, but he had a feeling Arhal, unlike his friends, would be able to tell the difference. Funny how he was more embarrassed by admitting he admired his dad than Buddha.

"Your father is right, that is Zan's biggest mistakes in all of this. He chooses to wait instead of act and in doing so he paves the way for Kivar to take over. He doesn't want to act and start something, but when he does nothing it starts anyway. In some parts of this, it is Q's downfall as well. She chose to act only for herself and Rath but not to use her gift for Rath's cause or to bring down Kivar."

Kyle was intrigued, wondering how Tess had screwed up, after all she was his girl, well almost. Plus once again, it gave him a great shot at blackmail. For a fleeting second he hoped these new Gods would be ok with him blackmailing the Royal four, then decided they were Gods, they must know what he is and what they're getting themselves into by choosing him.

"What did Tess do to make a mess?"

Arhal laughed, "What are you going to blackmail her for? She is basically blameless in all of this, she kept certain secrets she shouldn't have and supported Zan when she didn't agree with him longer than she should have. But she also did many things to help prevent what happened and to fix it."

"Bummer." Kyle muttered, well there was always Max to blackmail!

Arhal glanced into the backseat at Q for a moment, then, said. "So do you accept the offer of becoming one of the Chosen?"

Kyle shrugged nonchalantly, "Why not?"

"Good, we'll go meet the other Chosen at the sea."

Kyle rolled his eyes, "Why'd you bother to ask?"

Arhal shrugged starting the car, "Why'd you bother to act unafraid?"

"Fake it till you make it. Or as Buddha says fear only holds us back from the greatness that we are meant for." Sure, he could think of 1 million reasons not to do this, like Buddha would excommunicate him, or his dad would kill him, or he'd be made into alien stir fry. But he was a hero at heart, and heroes always took the hardest path and the biggest risks. And if becoming and alien priest wasn't a big risk he didn't know what was.

"I think I would like your Buddha." Arhal mused as Q started to stir in the backseat.

"You kind of reminded me of him, until you started to creep me out." Kyle said grinning.

All of the sudden the backseat was filled with commotion, Q sat bolt upright and stared at them like a crazed animal for a moment. Then all hell broke lose.

"What did you do? Oh my Gods, where am I? Oh what are you? Get away from me! You're a human! They're real!! Uh, uh. Wait, wait that means I'm dead! I'm dead! I didn't want to die. Uh, uh. You ruined my plan, how could you? I'm a failure, oh gods, such a failure. I just wanted to fix everything, but you ruined it! Everything is so wrong! I'm dead!"

Kyle widened his eyes, this was oh too familiar. She sounded just like Maria on superbabble breakdown. He had to crack this down, after all if he could slay scorpions and become one of the Gods Chosen he should be able to stop a babbling woman.

Arhal was trying to coddle her, "Q, pet, you've got to calm down."

Kyle decided to use what he referred to as 'the Michael Guerin' method. In his sternest and most annoyed voice he declared, "Q, shut up."

Her mouth snapped closed but her breathing was still rapid and closely approaching hyperventilation. He kept with the "Michael Guerin" method. "Now breathe slowly."

She obliged and slowed her breathing to normal rates, well what he figured were normal Antarian rates. Kyle shot a haughty glance at Arhal, letting him know who was the boss.

"You stabbed me, you fracking sedated me!" She accused glaring at Kyle.

"Sheesh, some thanks would have been nice. No, instead I get yelled at. Let me correct you, I saved the world, and part of that was preventing you from messing that up." Kyle informed her, pompously.

Her eyes darkened and he could see the blood rising in her face, his eyes glinted with joy. Why was it he loved pissing people off, or getting them all riled up so much? Oh yeah, it kept him the center of attention.

She lunged forward, "Kyle!"

He put his hands up in the air, warding her off while yelling. "Don't touch! I'm gonna be one of the Chosen!"

She stopped dead, deflating and falling back into her seat limply. "What?"

Arhal shot him a disapproving glare from the driver's seat and eyed Q in the rearview mirror. "Children, are we ready to play nice? Good."

"What's he talking about?" Q asked again, still glaring at Kyle.

"The Gods have decided to make him one of us, pet. We're heading to the lake to meet the other Chosen now for the ceremony."

She sat straight up again, looking colorless and extremely hurt. "Can they even do that? Wait, why do they need him? They have me! They don't need some silly little grasshopper who thinks killing bugs is his gift to the world."

"Because I rock! And the slaying of scorpions is a very honorable profession, I'll have you know." Kyle informed her sulkily.

Arhal ignored his outburst. "They don't have you anymore, pet. They let you go when you married Rath."

"That's not true!"

Arhal merely smiled sadly, "Can you feel them in your soul anymore? Have you even tried?"

She was silent, then dark eyed turned to look out the window. Arhal watched her in the mirror for a long sad moment before slowly stopping the car. "We're here."

Kyle grinned jumping out of the car, "Let's get this party started!"

Q and Arhal got out after him, Q walking up to Arhal quietly as Kyle started towards the lake. "Is he crazy?"

Arhal smiled, "I believe he is 'faking it till you make it' right now."

"Ah." She said stifling a giggle as Kyle turned around.

"Sigh, aliens, you're not saying it right, Arhal. You have to sound confident and threatening." Kyle told them before turning his attention away.

"Do you think it will mellow the grasshopper any?" Q asked watching as he kung fu chopped his way around the clearing.

"As his Buddha says, 'Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without." Arhal said serenely.

Kyle came galloping back over to them, coming to a screeching halt. "Did you just quote Buddha?"

Arhal nodded confused.

"Ca-CHING! That's three! I'm up to three aliens quoting Buddha! Wait till I tell Tess! First her, then Max and now you. Sweet, so basically I've had a Queen, a King and an Oracle quote Buddha. I freaking rock!" He announced excitedly, looking at them to share his excitement. Only to be met with blank stares.

"What's all the commotion about? Is that you Arhal, did you bring our new recruit?" A voice called, several figures melting out of the forest.

Arhal placed a hand on Kyle's shoulder. "Yes, everyone this is Kyle. He hails from Earth and is to be one of us. Kyle this is Jonreh, Zuri and Marnai. They will assist us in your…"

"Glorious transformation." Kyle supplied for Arhal as he trailed off, his wit earned him a few laughs.

Jonreh looked at Q for a long moment, "The touch has shifted on you, little sister."

Kyle stared at Zuri, at the huge Chosen who seemed to be covered in artful, mysterious tattoos. Zuri stared back, then handed him a white robe, "Change into this, little brother."

Kyle swallowed and nodded, still in awe of the massive Zuri, and secretly wishing he had him as a blocker on the football field. "Thanks, uh, bro."

He went into the bushes and heard the other murmuring as he stripped down to his Scooby Doo boxers and slipped the billowy white robe over himself. He looked down at his cloaked form and laughed, muttering to himself. "How am I gonna explain this back home, 'Hey dad, I really wanted to be an alien druid growing up but didn't know how to tell you, so I figured I'd show you…' 'Hey, Tess, I know you like my letterjacket jock look, but how about alien priest.' 'Hey guys, try not to piss yourself while laughing'…"

He returned to the clearing resigned to his goofy new look only to find he was wearing a matching outfit. "Oh the possibilities…"

"What possibilities?" Zuri asked, staring at him.

"Nothing, just thinking that when this is all over we could go on tour as a traveling druid band…" He muttered.

"Nah, we did that during the 5th group of cycles, but we found we had more success as prophets." Zuri threw back with a shrug. Kyle smiled back, finally an alien with a sense of humor!

Arhal brought his attention back, "Are you ready?"

Was he ever ready for anything? Was he ready when he got shot and healed by an alien? Was he ready when he slayed those scorpions? Were you ever really ready when life came at you?

No, but fake it till you make it.

"Sure thing." He asked sending up one last prayer to Buddha asking for forgiveness for abandoning him.

Arhal smiled at him, almost with a hint of pride. "Come with me, we're going into the lake to baptize you and purify you in the circle of life."

Kyle looked at the blood red lake, "Oh goody."

But despite his inhibitions, and visions of pigs blood getting dumped over Carrie, he followed Arhal to the edge and into the thick, almost jelloish liquid. It was the perfect temperature, not too hot, not too cold, and seemed to flow with him rather than around him. They stopped where it was lapping against their thighs and Arhal turned to face him.

"Kneel." He commanded.

Kyle followed directions, kneeling like a squire about to be knighted, and looked upwards.

"Clear your mind of all clutter, fall into a trance, a meditative trance and open yourself up."

So Kyle did, regulating his breathing and centering himself, letting everything drift out of his mind like the thousand times he'd done this before under Buddha's teaching. Thoughts drifted away and new ones, new possibilities lapped inward slowly. He heard the chanting, and the splashes at the other four joined them, positioning themselves around he and Arhal.

Then Arhal began to speak in a voice like thunder and the gentle wind that came after the storm. In a voice that invoked Gods and put troubles out of one's mind. "With this water I make you a part of Antar, a part of her circle of souls and life."

Marnai took up the chant, "With this water I bathe you anew giving you a new image without the transgressions of your past."

Jonreh's voice, "With this water I purify your soul and ready it for the joinings it will create throughout your life."

Finally Zuri's voice finishing it, "With this water I make you Antar."

Then Kyle felt the trickled over him by four sets of hands, soaking the rest of his body. Then, the sharp tickle and stinging around the top of his foot. He almost jumped, the sensation breaking him out of his meditation but Zuri's hand on his shoulder steadied him.

Zuri reached down, pulling him up into a hug, "Don't worry, little brother, it's just the tattoo marking you as initiated into Antar."

"My dad's gonna kill me." Was Kyle's first thought.

Arhal laughed, "None of the tattoos you get here will show on Earth, different dimensions. The tattoo is a common one, everyone on Antar has it, well everyone that's been baptized and not sent. You'll be the first Chosen with one, actually. So everyone but us and one other."

Did he even have to ask? Was there anyone else arrogant enough on Antar to not have gone through this? If there was he didn't want to meet them. "Who's that?"

Zuri shrugged kicking water up, but it was Marnai who answered looking uncomfortable, "Commander Rath, not that we didn't try. The kid was a complete hellion, we finally restrained him enough to attempt it but it wouldn't work. The Gods refused to mark him."

Oh the blackmail possibilities and shot to rib Michael. 'The Gods didn't even want you!', but alas he wouldn't. Instead he followed the others out of the lake as they talked.

"Now what?" He asked as he looked at the new tattoo wrapping around his ankle, it looked vaguely celtic and seemed to shift, never letting the symbols stay the same or be clearly read. At least it had manly colors, red and black.

"Now that you are pure and Antarian we bring you across." Arhal explained.

"Sounds like you're making me into a vampire." Kyle said to get blank stares in return.

"Alex makes me watch Buffy with him." He offered as explanation.

"Who's going to stand with him and be his blood brother? I'll do it since I'm already his bond brother." Zuri asked.

Arhal shook his head, "If you don't mind I'd like that honor."

Zuri nodded his concurrence and set the rest of the circle up, leaving Arhal facing Kyle again, this time in the center with him. "Are you ready?"

"No conditions are permanent, no conditions are reliable, nothing is stone." Kyle replied, holding onto the same thoughts he'd expressed to his dad when confronted with dealing with the little green men again, glancing around as Arhal began to unsheathe a knife.

The other Chosen's eyes were all the milky white of opals as they stood rigid holding golden orbs, like the four pillars of the directions or elements. He could feel the energy flowing through them, bouncing back from one to another completing the circle around he and Arhal.

Arhal cut his own palm and then grabbed Kyle's palm and dragged the dagger sharply across his hand. "From one to another let the blood bind you to our brotherhood, to Antar and to the Gods."

He clasped their bloody palms together and Kyle felt all the power in the clearing zone into Arhal a second before it burned his way into his system. It felt like he was being electrocuted and meditating at the same time, pleasure and pain surging through his system as the power touched him. His head snapped backwards, his eyes staring up at the night sky and the moons that burned there as his soul met the Gods. He could feel their power reshaping his soul, their presence meeting his mind and settling into a space that seemed to have been there and waiting. Kyle was flooded with the gentle sense of the deepest meditation, of the peace he'd been searching for ever since he realized it was missing. The peace he'd been trying to achieve through meditation since he found Buddha, but could never quite get to. Pain burned on in the rest of his body, but it was mind over matter, the peace he felt overriding his physical pain.

It stopped, he would never know how long it had taken to recreate him, to bless him, but when he finally regained some sort of sanity he stood slowly, gracefully. He'd collapsed somewhere along the line and now that he was standing he felt born again, every muscle was taught, ready for action, tighter and stronger than before. And most of all he felt peaceful, serene in a new way. Maybe in a way he wasn't abandoning Buddha through this, maybe Buddha had been a stepping stone all along. Teaching him in the ways he would need to be one of the Chosen. He looked around at the other 4 Chosen sitting around an impromptu fire, drinking something.

Instead of joining them he walked back to the edge of the life lake to splash some water on his face but was caught by his reflection. He looked different, a whirlwind symbol graced the top of his right cheekbone, the same symbol that was on all of the other chosen. His arms were covered in the same faint always moving tattoos that adorned Q and Arhal, going up to his elbows like gloves. But what seemed most different, and what he knew wouldn't change back on Earth was his eyes. They seemed to almost glow with moonlight, with a soft radiance that bespoke inner peace and power that hovered ever present at the back of his mind. He decided he liked it, it gave him a roughish, mysterious look that came off as devilishly sexy. He wondered if it was exotic and sexy enough to tempt a former Queen.

He walked back to the others, forgetting to splash his face. "Are you sure all of these tattoos are gonna disappear on Earth? Coach won't let me play with 'em, not to mention Dad's reaction.."

Arhal nodded, handing him a drink. "Of course, nobody will be able to tell except for others like you."

Kyle raised an eyebrow in question.

"Other vessels, like your Saints and prophets, and those who are in religion but not directly linked. Probably any type of true priest, they won't know what you are, merely that you are touched."

Zuri raised his glass, "To Kyle, the Scorpion Slayer, Valenti. Welcome to being Chosen!"

They drank and Kyle almost sputtered on the woksa but kept it down, it was like whiskey but doused in tobasco. Oddly the spice didn't bother him as it once had, merely reiterating one of his greatest fears that he would become an alien and like it by enhancing the flavor. Somewhere, someone was laughing at him.

To cover his lapse he asked, "Scorpion Slayer?"

Jonreh laughed, "We all have handles that the public refer to us by. For example Q is the Siren, Arhal is the Oracle, you we've decided to dub Scorpion Slayer unless you have another suggestion."

"I wouldn't mind Defender of the Universe, but I like Scorpion Slayer, it beats that Human Guy." Kyle responded, secretly delighted that his great slaying feats would be well known.

General laughter and another toast. Then Kyle turned to Arhal, "What happens now?"

Arhal grinned, "You go save the world."

…………………………………………….

Alex slung the rifle that Kyle had left in Max's car over his shoulder as they approached the skins quietly from behind. He hadn't had the heart to tell Max or, god forbid, Michael that he was a worthless shot when they gave him something to defend himself with. So he carried it, maybe he could manage it, if not for shooting, for a good old beatdown. He glanced over at Michael, and quickly back away. Michael was going to kill someone, anyone that was in his way of getting to Maria. Even anyone that blocked his eye contact with her. Though he did seem to be sane again, not the animal he'd been in the car. Just seeing Maria had restored whatever balance that was out of whack with them.

Michael abruptly stopped, causing Max to almost run into him from behind, Michael shook his head abruptly then glanced at them over his shoulder, answering Max's unspoken question, without words. Michael's eyes were darkening to the shade of black that Alex was starting to associate with the tick in his neck and the intense fear that seemed to strike him at the mere thought of Rath. He smiled slowly and Alex thought his heart had stopped beating.

Rath was back, and he was not happy that his wife, regardless of incarnation, was chained to a cliff.

Instead of being sneaky, like they'd planned, Michael and Rath, like usual, decided to do their own thing. Six of Nicholas's loitering, unaware companions spontaneously combusted, exploding outwards leaving only a snow of dried skin. Nicholas stopped whatever he was doing to the girls that involved them screaming and spun around. For a moment he looked slightly scared then flipped a switch he was holding in his hand.

He merely waited as they got closer, or tried to. Michael was the first to collide with something invisible and bounce back, shortly followed by Max and Alex.

"Did you come to join the party? Pity, it's my party and I hired a bouncer to take care of unwanted guests." He sneered at him then walked over to the invisible barrier, stopping directly in front of Michael.

They stared at each other for a moment before Michael, in one frustrated gesture rapped hard on the invisible bubble next to his head, as if trying to punch his way through. "I'm going to kill you."

Nicholas laughed in response, then, gave a slow, cruel smile. "So you keep saying, but yet you haven't gotten around to it. You know, this day is turning out even better than planned. See I captured a Queen and drew a Princess here and then your little brat appeared out of nowhere to join the party. Now you all show up, it gives me a wonderful opportunity."

He paused narrowing his eyes for a moment, "Where is your Buddhist freak?"

Then he shook his head, "Doesn't matter, he's helpless."

He turned back to the glaring Michael with a smile, "You always wanted to know what I did to her last time. Well, now you can watch, helpless, as I do it again."

Instead of the angry response he expected, even craved, Nicholas got something entirely different.

Michael leaned on the invisible structure and gave his own slow smile, "Talked to Kivar lately?"

Nicholas narrowed his eyes and before he could respond Michael leaned forward, getting their faces as close as possible letting Rath's iciness shine through. "See, I have. We came to an agreement of sorts and part of that agreement is that you leave my lovely wife over there alone."

"I wasn't aware that you two had finally kissed and made up." Was the snide response, but everyone could see the spite and hatred growing in his eyes.

"Now that I'm gone, Kivar still doesn't tell you everything. That's got to kill you inside. It seems even with me gone and long dead I'm still your biggest rival and still winning." Michael said, glancing discreetly past him at Maria's facial gestures to keep Nicholas busy.

"Still inflating your huge ego. I would have thought death showed you that you weren't untouchable, that you weren't the God you always thought you are. Not everyone worshipped at your feet, just like I don't worship at Kivar's feet. I am my own master."

Michael let out a bitter laugh at how many times he'd said that last statement in his last life, and how many times it never convinced him otherwise. He launched into one of the longest statements he'd ever said in his life. "Keep telling yourself that. But let me break it down for you. You were always a third wheel, you were never going to get the same level of friendship that K and I had. Kivar hated Zan because Zan was like a brother to me, and Kivar has some pretty nasty possessive issues, especially over me. You have them over Kivar, so you hated me. Here's the thing, you killed me and figured you and 'Var would be all buddy buddy. Wrong, he never forgave you for that, did he? For turning me into a crazy hellbent suicidal wreck at the end, so that he would have to change his plans and kill me. So he sent you here, to Earth, out of sight out of mind. You got fucking exiled, I still won."

Nicholas's face contorted, scrunching up in hatred, the suave glib mask he'd always shown dropping away. "I'm 1000 times the man you are."

Good, he was pissed and angry enough to do something about it. This was Michael's time he stepped back and held up his arms, "Prove it, then. Take down this little defense you built to keep me out and fight me, man to man."

Before Nicholas could answer there was a commotion up about halfway up the cliff, a huge cloud of dust and popping noise. Then the sound of footsteps descending.

Kyle Valenti, Scorpion Slayer, had arrived.

He was standing there, on the cliff face directly above Tess, Isabel and Maria looking imposing in his white robes and holding the deadliest looking weapon Alex had ever seen. What the hell? Where had he come from?

Nicholas took one look at him, at the weapon then threw his hand out creating a portal directly between Tess and Maria. Using his powers he evaporated the chains and threw Isabel through the portal.

"Tess!" It was Kyle's yell as he took aim and fired the weapon.

The invisible dome lit up, luminating its structure in a golden fire as it trembled and shook. Nicholas threw Tess through the portal as the structure shattered around him, leaving him exposed.

Michael rushed in amidst the thick swirling dust, but didn't shoot with his powers terrified of hitting Maria by accident. As the dust settled he could see his worst nightmare. Nicholas had Maria in front of him with a long knife to her throat, directly in front of the portal. Everyone froze, time seeming to stop in that moment.

"You coward." It came out like a curse, because they both knew he wouldn't, couldn't risk her.

Maria's eyes were huge and terrified, her body shaking slightly and her breathing erratic enough that she might slit her own throat on the blade. It was a plea, it was an expression of love, it was everything she ached to say in one word. "Michael."

Nicholas tightened his hold on her, glaring at the gun Alex had cocked at him and the two alien hands trained on him. He backed up until he was a step away from the portal. He cocked his head to Maria, "Any last words, my sweet?"

Her eyes still locked on Michael, a single tear rolled down her face. "I love you."

Michael stared back, the intensity of his gaze locking on hers, blocking out everything else in this horrible moment for one second. "I know."

Nicholas threw them backwards, through the portal as it closed.

"Maria!" It was an anguished scream as he lunged forward trying to go through the portal that was already gone.

There was a long beat of silence, the desert sun beating down on them. Kyle was the first to move, coming the rest of the way down the cliff and standing with the others. Until Michael broke away, walking angrily away and kicking rocks around. Rocks around him started to explode as his chest heaved with ragged breaths. She was gone, she had been taken and now, now he was going to go back to that hellforsaken planet to get her back.

"Where have you been?" Max asked him eyeing his clothing, while watching Michael out of the corner of his eye.

"Antar." Kyle said, causing Michael to turn around and walk angrily back over to them.

He grabbed Kyle by the shirt, lifting him off the ground. "What happened there? Why did you let Maria come back alone?"

Kyle stared at him quietly for a moment, then, with is new found confidence and spine of steel he spoke in a soft voice, "I recommend you put me down."

Michael stared at him angrily for a moment then dropped him, 'What are you?"

Kyle stood up brushing himself off, "I'm one of the Chosen. I'll explain back at the DeLucas, I really only want to have to go through it once."

And then, while they were all still digesting the latest news he walked over to the Jetta. Michael was the first to recover, stalking after him.

"Valenti!"

Kyle paused at the driver's side, "You riding with me?"

Michael reached out holding the door shut, "You're going to tell me everything, right now. And then, we're going to go back to Antar and get Maria."

"No. We're going to go back and talk about it with everyone there, and plan." Kyle said, holding his ground, glaring right back.

"That's not an option. We're doing it my way. I could have saved her if you hadn't showed up."

Kyle reached for the handle, "And you can't save her now without me. I want Tess back too but you of all people should know you don't go into battle in your state of mind."

Michael opened his mouth but Max reached between them, calming the tense air. "Kyle's right, Michael. We need to have a plan."

Michael started to disagree again but Kyle cut him off, "Listen to what Rath is telling you. Even he says I'm right."

Michael's mouth snapped shut and Alex looked at Kyle in a way he'd never been looked at before. Alex was a tiny bit afraid of him, of what he'd become, "How do you know that?"

Kyle sighed, only starting to realize how this changed everything, and rubbed his temples. "I'll explain later. Right now we need to get away from the desert."

Alex nodded and Kyle finally noticed his gun, he grabbed it away from Alex quickly. "You're going to shoot your eye out if you hold it like that. What were you doing with Big Red anyway, you can't shoot."

Max and Michael just stared at him and Alex shifted feet uncomfortably, "I needed a weapon."

Kyle shook his head in disgust, "Just get in the car. They can take the Jeep and put Michael's bike in the back."

There were tired, demoraled nods all around and Alex slipped in the passenger side, quietly.

Kyle started the car and drove out of the desert but he couldn't take the oppressive silence that filled the car or the new strain on their easy friendship. "I can't believe he said that."

"What?" Alex asked, rousing himself from staring out the window.

" 'I know', when Maria told him she loved him. That bastard!"

Alex looked blank, wondering why Kyle was so upset. "I mean yeah he should have said it back, but its Michael, were you really expecting much?"

Kyle shook his head vigorously, "No I don't care about that. He stole Han Solo's line in Star Wars, when Princess Leia says that to Han right before he gets taken away and Han says 'I know'. It's complete blasphemy!"

Alex laughed, probably the first and last laughter of the day. "You're weird, you know that? But besides, wasn't Rath like their Han Solo anyway? Did whatever he wanted, saved the day, kind of thing?"

"Dude, no way! Rath was in no way as awesome as Han Solo, I mean there were certain similarities, as in they were both jerks."

Alex paused, "Do you realize we're comparing Michael's terrifying former reincarnation with character out of a movie? Do you also realize that Michael, and Rath, would kill us if they knew of this conversation?"

Kyle glanced over at Alex, "They might kill you, but not me. I'm golden!"

Alex was quiet for a moment, "Were you serious about the whole Chosen thing? Did they really transform you?"

"Yeah, yeah they did." Kyle said softly, he really wasn't sure how to talk about it. Or how to talk about anything, but talking about this kept the harsh reality away. Tess was gone, along with Isabel and Maria.

"I wonder what that means for me and Liz. I mean their alieness takes every one of us that's human and changes us. First Maria turns out to have a whole past life and now you've been turned into an alien priest. What's left for Liz and I? Do I suddenly become some alien soldier who saves the world?"

"No, I save the world. I keep telling you people that." Kyle joked then sobered as they drove by the Crashdown.

"You won't be drawn into this any further than you have. It ends with me, I made sure of that." Kyle told him softly as the turned onto Maria's street.

They pulled into the driveway next to the Sheriff's cruiser and got out, looking at the silent Max and Michael. It was obvious not a healing word had passed on their car ride.

"It's time to face the music." Alex said bravely as they went to the door.

The door flew open and Mrs. DeLuca came flaring out closely followed by the Sheriff. "Did you find Maria?"

Kyle glanced past her and met his father's gaze prompting the Sheriff to softly take Amy's arm, "Let's go inside, Amy. We should talk about it in private, not where anyone can hear."

"But.." She protested as the Sheriff turned her back around and dragged her over to the couch. The rest of the boys followed inside.

"Liz will put some tea on?" The Sheriff asked over his shoulder.

Liz stared at Max for a long moment, her eyes raking over Max looking for injury, then, her eyes snapped to his looking for answers. All she found was an aching sadness and misery. She turned away, going into the kitchen to start a kettle.

"Where is my daughter?" Mrs. DeLuca asked, looking anxiously to all four of their faces.

"With Isabel and Tess." Alex offered, terrified of Maria's mother.

"And where are they?" She asked, her eyes piercing his since he'd had the courage to speak.

Kyle decided it was time for him to lay it all out on the table, and face the consequences. He walked over to the chair and sat down, leaning forward on his knees. "I should start from the beginning."

"Kyle?" His father asked sounding worried as everyone else sat and Liz came back in with the tea.

Kyle glanced over at him for a minute, "Just listen, Dad. Maria came to me this morning and asked me to go with her back in time to prevent Rath and Q from ever meeting. I reluctantly agreed and we took the Granolith to Antar's past."

"But you didn't change anything because we're still here now…" Max cut in.

"I'm getting to that. When we first got there, Q had separated from Maria something to do with different dimensions. So I had to deal with both of them and Arhal, and Q is completely crazy and had Rath in her." He shuddered for a moment.

Everyone stared at him so he decided to get back on track. "Anyway, Maria started to get sick and eventually poofed. Something to do with the human body and dimensions and her being too far from Michael, it had to do with science so I'm not really sure. She came back here, though and was ok. But that left me with aliens, and alien scorpions."

"Poofed?" Liz asked.

Kyle rubbed his face in frustration, this was a lot harder to explain than he thought, "She went poof, came back to Earth."

"Well Q wanted to prevent herself and Rath from ever meeting by distracting her at the beginning. I decided she was idiot and stopped her, you can't just go around mucking with history. Well the Gods, thought I was right and decided to make me one of the Chosen."

"Are you on crack?" Mrs. DeLuca asked staring at Kyle.

"Amy!" The Sheriff said.

"Don't Amy me, Jim. I just want to know where my daughter is and Kyle is talking about poofing and becoming some God-thing. I just want the truth and to have him stop joking around."

"You think I'm joking? If I was joking could I do this?" Kyle demanded standing up and holding his hand out like he'd seen Michael and Tess do countless times and pushing the new, buzzing power out of his palm. It asked for a direction and before he could answer it anchored on someone at the other end.

A portal, just like Kivar's, flew open in the middle of the living room causing everyone but Kyle to scramble back away from it, the Sheriff and Max both keeping Amy and Liz behind them.

"Turn that thing off!" The Sheriff commanded his son.

Kyle just stared at it, it was real. All of this power, it wasn't a dream. It was completely real and completely his. It brought back his conversation with Arhal on what he would do to Kivar if he had the power. He felt the soft pull in the back of his mind, the gentle command of the Gods that was telling him to use his gift for what he had promised.

"Kyle!" It was his father again, causing Kyle to turn back to face him.

He stared at his father feeling separated from him by an entire world of differences. Everything had changed, completely, and here in this moment it glared at him. A stark pang of regret and melancholy hit him but he was more than human now, and had a duty to do.

"There's something I have to take care of. I'll be back in a moment." He announced almost mechanically, woodenly, as he turned back to the portal and stepped through.

Michael lunged after him only to not make it through the portal for a second time.

"Damnit!" He explained lashing out by punching at the air and going to lean against the wall facing away from the rest of the group.

"Where is my daughter? I've been about as patient as possible." Mrs. DeLuca asked standing up.

Michael answered, not bothering to turn around from his position in the corner. His voice was quiet, tortured, perhaps with memories of the same pain filled situation from his last life, perhaps merely with his own feelings. "He took her, along with Tess and Isabel."

"Who took her? Where did he take my baby?" Mrs. DeLuca demanded hysterically as the Sheriff wrapped an arm around her.

Michael turned around slowly, letting everyone see the rage, the desperation and the touch of insanity that rocked across his face. He wasn't bothering to hide it anymore, maybe he couldn't, maybe he didn't care enough to look untouchable.

"Nicholas. I assume he took them to Kivar."

Abruptly Kyle reappeared without all of the fuss of his original exit. He staggered over to the chair and collapsed into it. His complexion was almost grey.

"Get some water!" Mrs. DeLuca yelled at someone as she and the Sheriff descended on him.

Kyle waved them off weakly, but took the proffered bottle of water, gulping greedily from it.

"Son?" His father asked, squatting next to the chair.

"I had to keep a promise. I gave Kivar a conscience, hopefully by this time the guilt is really starting to wear him down. Anyone know if aspirin works on alien headaches?" Kyle exhaled, putting a hand to his head.

"Tess took it after she fixed Maria, it seemed to help. But what did you mean by this time? How would that matter if you just did it to him?" Liz offered handing over the aspirin from her purse.

Kyle swallowed the pills with another gulp of water, "I didn't just do it, well I did but not in this time. I went back in time to before any of this started and gave it to him then."

"So you can travel in time?" His father asked, sitting back down.

"Technically I can bend the space time continuum or some Star Trek thing like that." Kyle sassed as he leaned back in his chair, starting to shake slightly.

"Take me back to her. Take me back to right before he took her." It was Michael, coming dangerously close as he made his demands.

"I can't."

"You just said you could. Valenti." Michael threatened.

Liz and Max both stepped forward intervening, "No, Michael. Look at him, he's shaking, he physically can't do it."

"You still need a plan, Michael. If he can really go back in time then what does it matter if we go tomorrow or the day after?" Max chipped in.

Michael backed away as Mrs. DeLuca approached shooing him back to the couch as brought Kyle food, "Kyle, eat this."

"Will it always be that bad?" Alex asked.

Kyle looked up, after a few bites from his sandwich, "No. It'll get easier with time, as my powers grow and I practice. But there are limitations, as far as the time travel goes."

"Like what?" It was Michael's threatening voice, daring Kyle to ruin his plan.

Kyle closed his eyes, trying to sort through all of the new information that had been there when he woke. Finally he gave up and just let it flow through him the best he could. "I'm new to all of this, so bear with me. Apparently certain events are set, as in no matter what you do to prevent it they will occur anyway. Like Rath and Q meeting, the four of you dying and Liz getting shot. It's all part of the master plan of Antar's growth, to help make the planet the best it can be for everyone living there."

"So it's like fate?" Liz asked, a peculiar expression on her face.

Kyle nodded, "That's one way to look at it. And Nicholas taking our girls is one of those events."

"How do you know?" Michael challenged.

Kyle shrugged, "When I look at it, at the web of time that floats around my head it looks different than the other memories and events. It's completely solid while other pieces of time have different degrees of a blurry, liquid quality that show they can be changed."

Liz was fascinated by this from a scientific viewpoint, "So there's different degrees of change that can happen? Say like in one situation you could only change what the person orders from the diner, while in another you could have them not go at all?"

Kyle shook his head again, "There's rules. I can't save anyone from dying, it's too permanent and they can't return souls or something. And I can't directly change anyone's free will. I would have to use others to try and influence a person."

"What does that mean?" His dad asked, looking worried.

Kyle was quiet, searching his mind for an example. It came floating out of the peace that was a gentle coil of power at the back of his mind. "In another course of time that we all could have taken, one where Q was never awoken in Maria, Tess was pushed away. She eventually left and the Royal Four couldn't survive without her, all of us were dying and Max used the Granolith to travel back in time. He came back to the teenage years to Liz to get her to make him fall out of love with her so that he could be with Tess. He couldn't directly affect the situation so used Liz as a tool to change the future."

Kyle grinned, he still loved shocking everyone and being outrageous, just the priceless look on Max and Liz's faces was worth becoming a Chosen. Messing with Max never got old.

"Did it work, did they save the world?" Liz asked, in a choked voice, all the thoughts of destiny flaring up in her mind.

He might as well do some good, on their little lives. He always felt kind of bad for upsetting Liz, he would always have a soft spot for girls. Especially blonde curly haired ones. Did it bother him to see Tess in this other light? No, because that wasn't who she was, it was who she might have been.

"No, a universe without Liz and Max was worse than one without Tess. Needless to say ya'll ended up together anyway."

"Enough of this mumbo jumbo crap. Let's get down to planning, since were on a time schedule. I don't want Maria stuck with that creep one moment longer than necessary." Michael said, cutting in.

"I can get us to Antar, in this time, without a problem after I've recovered." Kyle offered, this was after all why he'd been gifted.

"Can you guarantee a safe location where we won't be detected?" Michael asked immediately slipping into Rath's military planning mode.

Kyle nodded, "We have an inside man, remember? Arhal will take care of that and make sure I know where to anchor to us."

"Guys? What is this?" Alex asked, confused as he picked up a long sword from where Kyle had reappeared.

Everyone turned to look at Kyle, who ran his hands through his hair and gave a sheepish grin. "I forgot about that, must have been the whole almost dying feeling. Arhal sent that back with me, he said to give it to Michael, that he would need it."

Michael took the offered blade as he swung it around to get a feel for it, "My k'sharnka blade, I once promised to kill Nkyot with it. It's been retempered and rebalanced for me as I am now…."

Kyle shrugged, "I guess Arhal figured you'd use it then."

"Who are the teams that we'll split to?" Alex asked.

Max and Michael exchanged a long glance then Max looked back at Alex, "You're not going, neither is Liz or Mrs.DeLuca."

"What? Of course, I'm going. You need me to help find the girls." Alex declared outraged.

"No, your exactly what I don't need, another helpless person that I have to worry about because you can't protect yourself against aliens. You'd just be in the way." Michael snapped.

Max glared at Michael, "What Michael meant to say was that we need you here to protect Liz and Mrs. DeLuca and be ready if we send the girls back ahead of us."

Alex gave a sharp bitter nod. But Mrs. DeLuca started up, "I want to-"

The Sheriff cut her off, "What, Amy? Go to a planet full of hostile aliens and wander around helpless? You can't just yell at them and intimidate them to get your way."

Her voice was quieter, more subdued. "You're right, Jim."

Max turned to Michael, "Is this just a rescue mission? Get the girls and get out?"

Michael looked eerily like the cold, hard Rath from Max's memories, "No. This time we finish it."

……………………………………………


	38. Chapter 31

**AN: **Hey ya'll, sorry about the super long delay, moving back to college getting settled in and all that jazz slowed things up a lot. But I'm back to steady writing and ready to post! I just really want to say thank you to everyone that's still reading this, everyone who started or finds it, and especially to all of my lovely reviewers!! Extra thanks go to journeylove, X5-459, Red-rumm, Candylovin Fehrian, RedJewel2662, RleFay and Trude. Enjoy and let me know what you think!

Collision Part 31 _"Blood on the Ground"_

_I don't wanna talk to you anymore  
I'm afraid of what I might say  
I bite my tongue every time you come around  
Cause blood in my mouth beats blood off the ground_

_I'm fast to a better judgment  
By saying less today  
I will gain more, gain more  
No tears to you my, my fickle friend  
You you brought the art of silent war_

_Blood on the Ground- Incubus_

Tess found herself propelled into Isabel as they steadied each other. She looked around, it wan an empty room in what appeared to be her palace. Abruptly Maria and Nicholas came through the portal as it was closing.

"Maria!" Michael's taut, tortured voice echoed through as the portal snapped shut.

Nicholas pushed Maria away from him, sending her slamming into Tess and Isabel, knocking Tess and Isabel dangerously off balance again.

"Guards!" It was a furious snap followed immediate appearance of two men in uniform in the doorway.

Nicholas glared at them and for one furious moment Tess thought he was going to snap. Then he steadied himself, locking that rage away, and grabbed Tess with one arm and Isabel with the other and shoved them at the guards.

"Follow me with these two." He ordered once again confiscating Maria and dragging her down the hallway with a painfully tight grip on her upper arm.

Tess squared her shoulders and allowed her guard to fall in step beside her, he seemed to sense who she once was and that even now it would be disgraceful of him to forcibly escort him. She wondered where they were heading if it was directly to the dungeons or to her throne room to meet the new king. She glanced over at Isabel to see the same stony determination that rocked her own face, but also a deep seated fear mixed in with anticipation. It didn't take much imagination to realize she was both dreading and anticipating her first meeting with her former lover.

Pushing those thoughts away she turned her attention to her guard, idly noting his uniform had changed. It was no longer the same dark uniform emblazoned with the crest of the house of Karr across the breast with the symbol of the crown stitched around the right bicep showing that every soldier was protected by it, and the whirlwind symbol of religion on the left side. Instead it was a light neutral shade with Kivar's family crest and no mention of the crown or religion. Good, it showed that this administration wasn't legitimized by either Antar or its religion to the people and opposing armies.

A left turn, the throne room it is, she silently told herself, idly noting that the hallways had never seemed so long or dark when she'd owned the place. But being a prisoner seemed to provide a new perspective in all aspects of her life. She wondered how different the throne room looked from the days she ruled there and the day she died there.

Another glance at Isabel only showed her nervousness had increased tenfold. It brought Tess back to the memory of her death and how she'd pitied the fate of the others but didn't know the actual outcome. But Isabel even if she didn't know consciously know it, knew how the story ended and how her own life had come to an abrupt halt.

The palace seemed deserted, only the sharp sounds of their footsteps echoing down the hallways. Before, during her life, it had been filled with people with laughter and music, and now it seemed so dead. They came to the throne room and its shut doors, it seemed Kivar had banished the open door policy the house of Karr had always had, where anyone with any grievance could come and speak with them. Somehow she wasn't surprised. One last look over at Isabel showed that her hands were shaking slightly and her face was dead ahead. Tess glanced forward as Nicholas reached for the door and met Maria's eyes as she looked back over her shoulder at her.

Maria looked scared and calm, but not at all resigned to whatever her fate was. Tess was starting to realize that no matter how much Maria freaked out over smaller things, on the big things and in crises she would always come through. She turned back around squaring her shoulders as Nicholas threw the door open. They entered quickly, getting marched directly to the center of the room facing the thrones.

Kivar looked up startled from whatever he was reading, he stood slowly his eyes never leaving Isabel. "What is the meaning of this?"

Tess looked past him to her old throne, expecting to just see the empty seat since as far she knew Kivar had not taken a Queen. Instead on the gilded back of the chair hung a small portrait of Vilandra and on the seat was a vase with a single fresh ochai blossom. Very interesting, she glanced over to see if Isabel had noticed but her eyes were still locked with Kivar's. This little development only raised more questions as to how everything had ended and Isabel had ended up dying.

Nicholas shoved Maria forward, "I've brought the Siren back to Antar. The others were by necessity."

Kivar's eyes snapped away from Isabel as he walked forward, "Let go of her. Rath and I made an agreement, to keep her out of it this time."

Nicholas let Maria go, but didn't back down from his King. "You didn't inform me of this….new development. When the frack were you planning on telling me you ran crying back to him?"

"It's not your business or your place and I did not run crying back to him." Kivar snapped, his golden eyes blazing.

Nicholas stepped forward, "Maybe you've forgotten that I have that tattoo on my shoulder too. It used to go three ways."

Kivar stepped forward meeting the threat, his yellow eyes blazing with a burning fire and old animosity and his voice deadly quiet. "Maybe you've forgotten I can kill you without breaking a sweat."

They stared at each other for a long burning moment before Kivar spoke again, "You're dismissed to your quarters."

"What about the prisoners?" Nicholas asked, eyeing the girls distastefully.

"I'll take care of them." It was a snap as Kivar turned away, to face the three of them again, obviously dismissing Nicholas.

He waited until Nicholas stomped out of the room and the door slammed shut, before giving them an almost tired smile, his golden eyes almost glinting. "I wasn't expecting the three of you to show up."

"Yeah, well we weren't exactly expecting it either, mister." Maria snapped.

"Ms. DeLuca, you're much different than Q was." It was an idle, almost ironic comment as he stared at Maria.

"Yeah, well getting murdered tends to change a person's life perspective." Another saucy response, followed by a glare from Isabel.

"Touche. I'd ask if the two of you are ever going to get over that, but, I know Rath and how he loves grudges." Kivar said shaking his head and turning his eyes to Tess.

She took a deep breath and stared back, "What are you going to do to us?"

His golden eyes met hers and she felt like she'd been burned. Kivar was subtly, different, now, his façade of easy charm was more transparent and he seemed so tired and weary of being the bad guy. "To you, nothing. My personal demons do not include you two. You'll be treated like visiting dignitaries for the time being."

"We're not going to the dungeon?" Maria blurted.

Kivar's eyes glanced at Isabel for a long moment, then, he turned to the guards. "Will you please escort Miss DeLuca and Miss Harding to visiting dignitary wing and get them set up in a room, make sure they have everything they need."

Maria eyed the guards that were descending on her, "We're not leaving unless we have Isabel with us!"

Tess sidestepped the guard to stand next to Maria, reaching out for her hand just in case they tried to rip them apart now. But Isabel looked at the two of them with their earnest shining faces, "Just go, I'll be fine."

"But Michael would have wanted us to stay together. We're never supposed to be alone, remember."

Isabel looked at Kivar and back to them, still shaking slightly, "Maria, that was so nothing like us getting kidnapped happened, it's a bit late for that advice. Please go."

Maria opened her mouth to protest again but Tess nudged her, realizing what needed to be done, "We're going, she needs to face her demons alone."

They left, with long glances back at her and part of her, maybe a fairly big part, was happy to see them go. She loved Maria and Tess but they could be as smothering as Max and Michael when it came to her life.

There was a beat of silence then Kivar glanced at the two guards still in the room and motioned them away. He waited until they left the room before turning to her.

"I thought that we might need some privacy." His voice had thee familiar lilt that set her heart racing.

"Yeah." It was her breathy response as she tried to control her body that was betraying her, reacting so strongly to him. In an effort to keep herself sane she turned away, stepping towards the thrones.

She stared at the Queen's throne, at the small picture of herself hanging there and the single, fresh ochai bloom in a black vase. Her eyes started to sting with that familiar feeling of Vilandra rising in her.

"What is this? Why would you pull a sick stunt like this?" She hated the tremor and note of burgeoning hysteria in her voice.

He came to stand behind her, close enough that she could feel his warm, ragged breath tickling the back of her neck. "It's a tribute, to the Queen that would have been. You were supposed to have this throne, and ever since you died I've honored your memory with this and vowed to have no other Queen."

She heard the old unburied pain that laced his voice and squeezed her eyes shut to try and keep her reactions out. She tried to focus on how manipulative she knew he could be, how he could fake anything he wanted, and put up a charming façade as convincing as Rath's cold unfeeling one. It didn't help.

Her body, and Vilandra who swam within her, turned to face Kivar without her consent, with her fighting that small movement. He hadn't stepped back so they were a lover's breath away from each other, she started to step back feeling almost faint after making the mistake of catching his golden eyes. He stopped her, his arms locking around her waist in almost a desperate measure.

And that was her undoing.

It felt just like it had all of those years ago, like he'd attached an electrical wire to her spine. It was that magical, inescapable, life changing moment all over again. The one instant that no matter how this all ended up would haunt her dreams for the rest of her life. And in a way it burned her, this was Vilandra's moment all over again but it was her life and she would have to live with that memory of having met her soulmate, even though for Isabel it wasn't hers. Or was he? Did it even matter, because after Max and Michael showed up he would be dead, or if things went badly she would.

"Vilandra…" It was a gentle whisper, a reminder of the past they shared, of the life they'd led.

"My name is Isabel." It was a snap of defiance, a desperate measure to try to separate herself from her past.

She tried to pull away again, but there was no give, instead his hand slipped up to cup her cheek. "I know, my mistake. You're so very different from her, Isabel."

"And how would you know? We just met."

He shook his head, idly brushing a lose strand back from her face, "You think I didn't keep track of you? Watch over you? We may have not met before now, but I know you, probably better than you know yourself. But I had to wait."

"Had to wait?" She was starting to get a sick feeling in her stomach, the overwhelming coldness of complete and utter dread.

"For you to grow up, to become a woman, to see if you remembered, to see if you'd changed. And you have, you've grown into a beautiful woman who overcame so many of the flaws that held you back last time. As Vilandra you were so self centered, but I, and Antar, couldn't help but love you, while now you're so giving, you really care about others. I couldn't wait any longer, I had to see you again, to make our worlds reunite.." His voice was earnest, loving and sounded oddly reminiscent of Fonbar's crazy stalkerish ramblings towards Maria.

"So you sent Nicholas?" Her voice was hoarse.

He shook his head, "No, he's been there since we knew you were reincarnated. I couldn't keep him here.. He happened to discover your little group after the pulse from the orbs went out, and then Maria turned out to be Q and it seemed like the answer to everything, so I had him move in."

"Oh." What else could she really say?

He leaned his head against hers, moving his hand up into her hair. "I should have just come to you..."

"So all of this, the fighting, Fonbar, it was because of me?" She asked softly, a sick twisting feeling wrenching her stomach.

His laughter was surprised and golden, "All for you? I see you haven't quite gotten over the idea that you're the center of the universe, love. Not all no, but a healthy amount was for you. The rest well, a King must protect his reign and having a missing Chosen and living former royalty does tend to pose a problem."

"Of course." She snapped turning away, the spell was broken, the glamour gone and the moment stolen. Reality was back in place around them, the cold harsh facts that they were in two different lives, on two different sides of the battlefield and that this time love wasn't enough to overcome that.

He let her go, staring after her for a long moment then spoke quietly, his golden tones haunted. "How much do you remember?"

"Enough." She answered automatically, but was it? She barely seemed to have any memories, especially compared to Michael and Maria, even Tess.

He looked contemplative, "Enough to know that I've dipped my fingers into your mind and intertwined them in your soul? Enough to realize that even forever won't be long enough to escape the ties that bind us together, to make you forget me and what we shared?"

She squeezed her eyes shut as if to squeeze his words out of her mind, to keep them from having ever existed. It didn't work. She tried to deny him, his words, her own realizations from earlier, "No, no you're lying again. You've always lied to get what you want…"

He squeezed his eyes shut as if in pain, and reached out to touch her wrist quietly. His voice was flowing with repressed pain, "I think it's time you remembered."

It was whispered under his breath, as if he didn't want her to hear, but needed her to, his golden tones dredged in the deepest regret and self hate.

"Forgive me."

……………………………………

She was frozen to the spot, clutching Zan's shoulder painfully tight with her nails as she peered over it, unaware of the sharp blade pressing into her throat and Zan's. It was like the world had come to a full stop, as if it had ground to a halt on its spinning axis. In her mind she knew this day might come, but for it to actually be here and her to be watching, it was her worst nightmare.

He fell backwards in a graceful arc, a look of eternal surprise etched onto his face as though he couldn't believe or grasp the idea of the sword protruding from his chest.

Kivar snapped out of his own shell-shocked state fast enough to catch him and lower him to the ground gently, cradling Rath in his lap. Zan pushed past the listless guards and she followed, dropping down and cradling Rath's head in her lap as Zan grasped his hand.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, brother." His voice was broken and childlike, an echo of the eternal damnation he would fall to.

Rath's eyes focused on Kivar, no echo of the physical pain he must be in on his face, only questions. His voice was rough, beginning to break, "Why didn't you do it yourself?"

"I couldn't." It was an anger less snap, one born of self frustration.

Rath nodded painfully, a look of disappointment on his face, as if he was angry that Kivar had delegated the job of killing him. The air was heavy between them of things she didn't know and couldn't understand, broken promises hanging almost visible in the air. There would be no resolve, no agreement reached and no forgiveness given, there just wasn't enough time left for Rath.

Rath turned his head towards Zan, who was futilely trying to stem the bleeding with one hand. Zan looked up expectantly, his eyes shining black in the harsh light.

"I'm sorry, all my fault…" he trailed off, regret coloring his fading tones.

Zan tightened his grip on Rath's hand, his eyes an even darker shade of black and his voice choked with emotion, "No, ours. All of ours, and now we pay together."

Rath nodded, a bitter sadness radiating from him, they both knew that without him there Zan had no shot of living. She opened her mouth to try and tell him how sorry she was for the part she'd played in everything, for helping kill his wife and destroying his world. Her voice cracked, "I'm sorry-"

But he cut her off his eyes staring out of his too pale face at nothing and his voice was dreamy, approaching peaceful, though with that ever present longing that had coated his tones for the past few weeks. "Q. …. Do you hear her?"

And she did, the strong clear notes of her voice singing an unmistakable song of love and lament. Vilandra glanced up, almost expecting to see her there waiting, instead she met Kivar's once golden gaze now blacker than night. What they'd done in their quest for a better world, for power, crashing around them, breaking in waves.

Here it was, everything has a price and this was it. This horrible gut wrenching pain of holding their loved ones in their arms dying from the seeds they'd planted.

She dropped her eyes from his, unable to look at the man she loved but was now starting to see the monster in him, the monster that was merely a reflection of the one that raged in her soul.

"Yes, she's come to take you home." Zan's achingly gentle voice broke half way through, snapping her back to reality and away from her self pity.

He wasn't listening, he was focused on the wife no one else could see, staring up with surprisingly focused eyes. There were no more bouts of sanity mixed in with the animal he'd become, no more fits of self destructive tears, or hours of howling. He was, for better or worse, completely sane at the very end.

Her song was louder now, a stronger keening floating around the room, drawing them all in, but only taking one higher and higher with it. Vilandra felt a rush of coolness, as if a hand had brushed hers, on Rath's cheek. She withdrew her hand and glanced up in startlement. There was a glimmer above him, a whisper, the faintest impression of a girl whose life she'd destroyed. Part of her was insanely glad that she was only here for Rath, because she had no idea how she could ever face her again.

He reached a limp hand up as if to caress her face, he opened his mouth to speak, one last explanation to the only person he'd ever truly loved, the other half of his soul. His voice was a mere whisper, as light and as fleeting as the girl who'd come to take him home.

"Our mistakes will echo in eternity, and our triumphs only in our hearts."

Rath's face relaxed into the tenderest smile slightly anticipatory as the glimmer of his wife leaned closer, as if to kiss him one last time. Her translucent hair spilled over him like a shroud of shimmering starlight, as if to take him in one last time. She began to slowly fade away, her music waning into a mere hum then a whisper and finally into nothing.

After a long moment Vilandra could finally breathe again. She looked down at Rath with dread, already knowing that he was gone. One look at his face, at the peaceful look he'd never held in life, and despair immediately set in. She leaned back, limply, her arms unable to support her weight anymore, trying and failing to escape from this.

Zan and Kivar both reached up for his face, but Kivar stilled and withdrew his hand letting Zan have the honor of closing Rath's blank eyes for the final time. A small sob escaped her throat as reality came crashing down and she was pulled back from his body. The guards drug her and Zan over to the wall holding them there while Kivar sat over Rath with his head bowed. She didn't, she couldn't, look to the others, the scared, servants to see their reactions. She didn't care, she didn't want to see the devastation, the disbelief on their faces, at the idea that the Commander was indeed mortal, she didn't want to hear their desperate broken sobs. She didn't want to hear the breaking of her soul echoed in the distress of the collective consciousness, who by now knew.

She clung to Zan's shoulder as he stood there in a stoic, rigid silence that was so reminiscent of Rath that it was almost painful to her. It was odd how now that he was gone all of her animosity towards him and all of his faults had melted away. Rath was perfect now, his imperfections melting away in her memories leaving him in the newly minted gold of the freshly sainted.

Realizing this was happening stopped her in her tracks. Antar loved Rath, oh they might have feared him and found him brusque, but they loved him more. Somehow despite his ruthlessness and lack of emotion, he was the golden boy, by far more beloved than her and Zan. And more importantly the man who would write their history, Kivar, loved Rath beyond all means. Rath would not be blamed for this, for the fall of the house of Karr, no that burden would fall to the rest of them.

He wondered why this bothered her, was it because she'd always valued how she was perceived over everything else was it something more? The grief threatened to overwhelm her again, but she focused on this, pushing past it, using her focus as a tool. She looked at Kivar, at his bowed golden head as Rath's words echoed through her, "Our mistakes will echo in eternity…."

Her mistakes, being with Kivar, and Nkyot, the killer, giving up Q to them. Could she handle that guilt, could she let herself go down in history as the betrayer of her family? She glanced past the grieving Kivar to the man who hadn't moved during the whole ordeal, the man who'd caused this, Nkyot. He stood there like a statue, a look of surprise still etched onto his handsome face, but also a look of sadness that couldn't mask the triumph he truly felt. He stepped forward, finally, and placed a hand on Kivar's shoulder, only to be shaken violently off. Nkyot stepped back as if he'd been burned, betrayed, as if in yet another battle he'd lost to Rath.

She turned away, sickened, her mind crystallizing. She couldn't, wouldn't sit on her brother's throne with Kivar and rule as Queen after helping kill her family. Her heart started to race, her realizations of her true allegiance surging through her veins.

As if he could sense the sudden change in her heart Kivar looked up, his once golden gaze locking onto hers. His eyes were drowning in pain and sadness but still held that terrible glint of determination she'd come to hate, the one that meant there was no stopping, no turning back despite whatever terrible costs it would bring them.

He stood slowly, reverently lying Rath back on the ground and extended his hand to her, his eyes pleading while his voice commanded, "Vilandra?"

She pushed past Zan, fury rising in her, how could he ask her to go with him after this? How could he when he'd lied to her? He'd said nobody would get hurt, he'd promised her that.

A look of relief crashed across his face, his hand still extended. She reached out and slapped him with all of her strength. There was a deafening silence in the room, all of the little sounds of movement, of shuffling feet stopped, as Kivar stood his face still looking over his shoulder at the wall from the force of her slap. He slowly turned back towards her, his neck cracking and as their eyes met she knew without a doubt that he could have stopped her if he'd felt like it. His eyes were no longer black, but they weren't their normal bubbling gold either, instead they were at a steely grey with hurt and fury piercing out at her. He was truly hurt that she'd hit him, like a kicked puppy, upset that she'd abandoned him in this hour of need.

He grabbed her by the wrist, forcibly dragging her towards the exit. He nodded at Nkyot and she heard Zan scream her name, she looked over her shoulder at him. There was no time for goodbyes, and her eyes locked with her brother's. Even now, his were filled with worry for her fate, knowing his own was sealed, even now, especially now, they were filled with the forgiveness he always willingly gave. Looking at him as Kivar drug her from the room, she wondered how she could have ever wanted to betray him? He was the perfect brother, an amazing king, always filled with understanding and so much trust for her, misplaced trust, but trust in the blood bonds he'd created with the people around them.

The door slammed shut behind them and as Kivar wrenched her around to face him she heard the single piercing yell of her brother, then silence. She didn't look up at him, couldn't, all of her anger and fury draining out of her at Zan's final yell. She was left merely with an aching sadness and a bone deep weariness.

"Why?" She asked, so very tiredly.

"Why what? Why did I lie? Why did they have to die? Why do I have blonde hair? Why what, Vilandra?" His voice was hurt, angry and snapping.

She slowly looked up, his anger starting to feed hers again, chasing out the momentary defeat that had sunk into her soul. "Why did you lie, you said nobody would get hurt, specifically promised me that my family would be fine."

Something flickered in his eyes, a sadness maybe or a mere note of something else something greater? Either way it showed her that whatever he answered was merely another lie, another attempt to protect himself. He laughed, suddenly callous, "And you actually believed me? Poor little, princess, are you a fool? Did you actually think I could leave them alive and take over?"

It didn't phase her, the insults, the snaps, the obvious attempt to put her down to distract her from the untruths in his words. She'd seen it so many times before, had it used on her, by Rath, by him, by Nkyot, she'd often before wondered if it was a tactic they'd been taught in their hellish training to deflect questions.

"I want the real reason, Kivar." Her voice was surprisingly steady, a bit of Rath's legendary ice seeping into her veins, cooling her hot tempered thoughts.

He held her eyes, letting her see the depths of the guilt that was wracking his soul as they spoke. "Things changed. Factors…I hadn't counted on came into play."

Rath and Q Granixing. He didn't say it, he didn't have to, it hung in the air between them of its own accord. He hadn't counted on Rath binding his soul to another, hadn't ever considered that her death would leave him so shattered he begged for death.

And suddenly she understood, he didn't kill Rath because he suddenly had to, he did it voluntarily. She recalled a conversation she'd once had with Kivar in the very beginning of their relationship, about mercy killing and the pact he and Rath had made.

"It was for mercy, wasn't it?" She asked.

Kivar looked away, putting his back to her and leaning on the railing of the balcony. "We made that pact a long time ago, just me and him, when we first partnered and bound. No matter what, no matter the personal cost we would make it quick and not let the other suffer. I couldn't do it, so I had Nkyot do the job. I should have done it myself, he knew, but I won't make that mistake again."

"Again?" She asked, fearing the raw pain she heard in his voice and the sad deadly certainty. She involuntarily took a step backwards, away from him.

He didn't turn around his voice was heavy as if he was already paying his price, "You won't stay will you? You can't be my queen, not after this…"

"Rath I could have forgiven, but Tav and Zan? They were senseless, unnecessary deaths. And I won't rule on a throne soaked in my family's blood." She snapped back.

"Tav's was an accident, I was just as surprised as you when she jumped in front of Zan. I liked her you know, besides, she isn't of Antar, she could have returned to Kathor peacefully. Now we'll have war with Kathor for killing their princess, her death complicates things." His voice was musing and then a dark laugh.

He looked over his shoulder, his empty eyes catching hers and holding them. "And Zan? Well he was a last minute decision, I'm already going to rot in the abyss for what I did to him so why not one more? He was a figurehead, a pawn, everything I don't want to be as a King."

He looked away, and she very slowly and quietly reached for the knife hidden in the folds of her dress. She clutched it tightly in her clammy hand, keeping it hidden as he straightened up and turned to face her. "You're a monster."

He nodded solemnly, his golden eyes dull. "Yes, and I don't suppose you'll still marry me?"

She almost dropped the knife, even now, especially now, she realized how much she loved him, despite the fact that he'd killed her family and used her as a pawn. Then an idea occurred to her, a way to do her penance, and serve the suffering she deserved. She could marry him, Granix with him like they'd planned, then kill herself. It would be perfect, she would burn as half a soul as he dropped into madness, then finally died and they could burn together. Just as quickly she dismissed the idea, the Gods would never grant a Granix based merely on revenge.

"No, Kivar, I don't think we would have much wedded bliss." Her voice was sarcastic, but also sad because if it had been another time, another place, and they had been different people they would have lived happily ever after, murder and mayhem not included.

He reached for her, drawing her close, and despite her inhibitions her body melted to his as it always had. She tightened her hand on the knife, already knowing that she was losing her nerve. Her anger and despair at her family's death melting away into indecision at his heady grasp of love. He leaned his chin on her head, inhaling deeply the scent of her hair as she stared past him. She looked at the 3 sisters shining brightly all at full moon and felt her eyes darken to black. Regret coursed through her, love rushing in her veins and anger at a world where they couldn't be together.

"Everything has its price…" He mused above her leaning back enough to tip her head up to his, "And mine will a heavy burden indeed. To live and reign without you, my success eternally empty. I can only hope the Gods will finally stop tormenting my dreams and that I may find happiness with you there. You can still leave Vilandra, run away, far from here, take the first ship out of here. I won't come after you."

The last part was almost a desperate plea. Her voice was soft, as her hand tightened on the dagger, "I can't. It ends here tonight, all of it."

He nodded sadly, slowly, leaning forward to rest his head on hers, his eyes were black, "I know about the knife in your hand, my sweet enchantress."

She froze, starting to tighten up in his grasp but one of his hands was running massaging circles around her lower back. "I-"

"Shhhh. I love you, always remember that." His words were soft, coated with a tangible pain and blackened with sadness that ate at her soul.

She felt no surprise when his lips dropped to hers, or when she responded eagerly, if sadly. The kiss was long and sweet, never waning, always at its peak. Love surged up in her heart, causing her heart to race and their souls to pick up the dance they'd learned together. She felt his love all around her, it engulfed her in its warmth and security and its never ending regret. Hers responded, it was a perfect moment, a last moment in two lives so intertwined that their hearts began to beat in time together.

She felt no surprise when the dagger in his hand pierced her heart, only a sharp pinch of pain and then she was swept back into his love. She gasped softly and he deepened the kiss, and his mind drew her weakened one into their dancing souls, into the beauty that they'd created together. He was holding her tightly in their final dance, final mating of souls, though her steps began to falter, his always held on leading her strongly. In that beautiful dance in the moonlit courtyard she looked up into his golden eyes, a laugh on her lips as he turned her. She spun around the turn spinning on gracefully and as she came back around to see his laughing face again, there was nothing.

……………………………………………………

Tess looked over at Maria from her perch on one of the four beds in the room. Maria was nervously smoothing out the bedspread on the bed next to Tess' repeatedly, sighing Tess stood up and went to sit next to Maria on the other bed. She sat down next to her, leaning her head on Maria's shoulder, "I'm worried."

"Me too," Maria said with a sigh, leaning her head against Tess' with a sigh.

They sat like that for several moments before Maria jerked forward, almost throwing Tess off the bed and turned to face her blonde friend. "What if she… if she…if Isabel…..?"

"Betrays us again?" Tess asked, her voice suddenly hard.

"Yeah." Maria's was almost a whisper.

Tess leaned back against the headboard harder than she'd needed to, looking at Maria with a hard, knowing face that reminded her of how Tav used to shoot at her and Rath last time. "Then we all die again, I suppose."

"Aren't you cheery?" Maria said, some of her irrepressible happiness peeking through.

"Well, its true, isn't it? If she turns on us, we're done, or at least you and I are." Tess said leaning forward, urgently.

Maria shot her a scathing look, leaning forward herself. "You're forgetting about the Calvary."

Tess ignored her statement, instead focusing on the real issue. "Do you think she'll turn?"

Maria was quiet for a moment, her thoughts and fears swirling around her mind as she considered Tess' question. Finally she spoke, her voice quieter and more unsure than before.

"I don't know, I really don't. She's not Vilandra, not in love with any enemies and she knows how wrong it all was….."

"But?" Tess prompted wanting, no needing, to hear Maria's thoughts on the matter to see if they matched her own.

"But I also know how strong our pasts are, how they can over take us if we don't tread gently. I mean look at Michael with Rath, Rath just forces Michael out whenever he wants and takes over. And I don't know what Vilandra will do or what she wants and that terrifies me."

Tess nodded reaching for Maria's hand almost absentmindedly, needing the reassuring touch of another human in this alien world. "I trust Isabel, but I trusted Vilandra last time too. Lonnie was my sister and what she did still rankles in me, in Tav. The betrayal still is so fresh, especially being back here."

"I never thought I'd come back here, Antar always seemed like it was the past and would remain that way. I never wanted to come back here…" Maria said.

Tess looked sad, "I always had a feeling it would end here, that we would have to come back. My entire life I've just been waiting for it to happen, though as a child I'd never imagined it would be like this. In my dreams the homecoming was always so different, so welcoming, while now it's not home. It's a prison…" She trailed off staring at the wall.

"I sued to dream of Antar." Maria confessed.

"Really? You never mentioned that before." Tess said surprised.

Maria shrugged, "I didn't realize it was Antar until last night. I've always had a recurring dream about this castle, running through it and searching desperately for someone, trying to stop something. I guess I just forgot about the dream with all of the stuff that's been going on until I had it last night."

Tess looked thoughtful, "Think it's one of Q's memories? Though I don't know what it would be about."

Maria nodded, "Must be, though I'm clueless too. Do you think Isabel's having memories just being here, is bringing so many things back to life.."

Tess shrugged, "Me too, but I wonder what it's brining up for her."

Maria slipped off the bed, wandering around the room, stepping over to the other door that she'd assumed was a closet. "Probably lovely frolics with Kivar."

She turned the handle of the door and it swung inward into a dark room, causing Tess to quickly stand up as well. They went into the second room of their prison, gingerly flipping the light switch on.

Maria almost screamed and fainted, it was Rath's bedroom, the one she'd spent so many hours in. Tess grabbed her, her nails digging into Maria's upper arm tightly. "I thought they said this was the visiting dignitaries wing?"

"It is." Nicholas said from the far corner where he'd been leaning unnoticed.

"Why are you here?" Maria snapped, outraged that he was in this perfectly preserved place of the man he'd killed.

He shrugged nonchalantly, completely unfazed as he stepped out of the shadows. Tess' grip tightened once more on Maria. He wasn't in his weak human form anymore, he'd shed the teenage boy for the battle hardened, handsome warrior he was on Antar.

"Why not? Kivar's practically turned this place into a shrine. A testament to his holiness of Rath and place of glory to represent his life." His voice was mocking, angry and bitter all at once.

Rage boiled in Maria, Q's demanding fury and her own rashness demanding action. She stepped forward her arm flung towards the door. "Get out!"

He quirked an eyebrow at her, his cold eyes sparking at he stepped closer, idly circling the girls like a shark. His voice was soft and deadly, with the calm before the storm.

"Ordering me about?" he paused, looking Maria in the eyes. "You forget whose castle you're in now, nightingale."

"Do I? It seems Kivar intends me no harm, after last time. Perhaps you forget that his true allegiance lies with Rath and Rath's with me." Maria parried back, spinning to keep her eyes on him as he circled behind them.

He didn't respond to her, instead turning his gaze onto Tess. "Naughty, naughty little Queen trespassing. She'll have to be put back in her place."

Tess opened her mouth to respond but Nkyot gestured and she was thrown back though the adjoining door and it snapped shut behind her, locking with a loud clink.

Maria's heart started to race, he was right next to her now. His cold eyes glittering with what she could now identify as insanity. He turned away, instead walking over to the bar and pouring himself a tall glass of the concentrated woksa.

Maria couldn't stand the silence, or the unknowing, 'Kivar didn't want you bothering us, how did you find us?"

He gestured for her to sit, reigning in Rath's room like it was his own causing her to bristle once again. "Chance, but what Kivar doesn't know will only help him. Now we're going to have a little chat, my nightingale."

She stared at the seat and decided to stay standing, but to her horror her body was forcibly shoved downwards as if a huge weight had caused her knees to buckle. It was just a reminder of how much power he held over her, a reminder of how he'd ripped apart her mind. He smiled, "I want to know more about you, both then and now."

"Why?" her voice was guarded and suspicious, wary of the games he was playing.

"To understand how such a weak creature could break apart friendships forged in blood and bring down a kingdom."

"Isn't it a bit late for a history lesson." She quipped, rolling her eyes before the idea hit her. "How is that going to help you?"

"I have my own plans, and you play a part in them." He paused, just long enough for her to open her mouth in a refusal.

"Willingly or not. Though if you're willing the rewards will be great.."

Maria repressed a hysterical giggle, "And what could you possibly offer me? If it's Michael's protection don't even bother, he can take care of himself."

He looked as though he was biting back a scathing retort and swallowed with supreme effort. "Of course not, you simple girl. No something much deeper and more personal than what you and that spiky h aired oaf share."

Maria just glared at him, deciding not to participate, until he answered.

"The bond between your present and your past can be broken and your past freed, both Q's and Rath's souls released as one, instead of the damnation of suffering eternal separation." She said it quite calmly, almost mechanically as if offering anything to his nemesis was painful.

Q leaped in effervescent joy, her heart dancing and her soul rejoicing at the thought. But Maria resolutely ignored that part of her.

"I'm sure that's one of the lovely side effects of Michael's and my deaths so no thanks." Her reply was scathing, a sharp burning tone as she threw his oh so generous offer back in his face.

He shook his head, "Skeptical. I see he's trained you fairly well. I'd have thought you'd be jumping at the bait. But let me remind you of the other option."

He leaned forward, his eyes suddenly blazing with rage and the shreds of insanity. His voice was cold and deadly, each syllable enunciated clearly in a low voice. "Have you forgotten what it feels like to have your mind ripped to shreds, false memories implanted? I can rape your mind of all that is good and leave you only with your worst nightmares. I can trap you in a never ending loop of watching your friends die. Then use the shell that remains of your body for whatever purpose I want."

A shiver rand down her spine and bile rose in her throat, nausea sweeping through her. But he didn't stop, he leaned even closer his breath on her face. "And I'll make sure nobody can save you this time."

He pulled back, standing and walking behind her to get to the exit. He stopped behind her, his hands clutching her shoulders excruciatingly hard and leaned down. His lips brushed her ear as he whispered his last words to her, "So for whom will the nightingale sing?"

He swept away, going through the dividing door to where Tess was without a backwards glance, leaving Maria shaken. She sat there in a daze, a half formed prayer still on her lips. Her heart was beating rapidly as if to remind her she was still, thankfully, alive if not for long. Then her worry and thoughts turned to Tess.

Tess stepped back from the door in utter surprise as it swung open. Her frantic calls to be let in dying on her lips. Nkyot strode through the door without a second thought and fury peaked in her chest, "Where's Maria? What have you done to her?"

His cold eyes flicked to hers, a half smile forming on his lips as ice formed in her veins. "Merely given her a decision to make."

Tess narrowed her eyes, any choices offered by Nkyot were dangerous and deadly. "What is it this time? Family and friends or Michael? Which did you threaten?"

"Still think you know everything that goes on in this castle, I see, your majesty."

Tess rolled her eyes, unfazed. "What do you want? Or did you just run out of innocent children to terrorize?"

"Tsk, Tsk Tess. You're starting to sound an awful lot like your mouthy songbird of a friend." He paused as if thinking for a moment, then as if out of nowhere he asked her a question she hadn't ever considered.

"Do you want Antar back, to rule it again?"

Her immediate response was no, but then it left her with so many questions. Could she really j ust abandon it to this hell hole rule? Could they really let Kivar stay in power when they'd been created as the last hope to save it? And if not who would become ruler, was she willing to leave Earth to rule the world of her past?

"I'll take your silence as a no." His voice was bemused.

She gasped at the air for a moment, "No, no. I just was startled by your question. Or course Antar can't stay the same, Kivar is killing it."

His eyes pierced hers as if reading her soul. "But you don't want to leave Earth to come play ruler. So what would you, if you all manage to unseat Kivar, do?"

"Democracy." She said immediately thinking of America.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" He asked, looking ecstatic with himself.

She stared blankly back, Tav oddly quiet the back of her mind.

He stepped closer, his voice soft. "Oh but it happened after your death, silly me. The Divine Right. When that wretched whore of Rath's stole the Crown of Antar she destroyed it's physical representation making it pass from individual to individual by the God's will. And we speculate, only at death, so unless you want to kill every single man who was chosen by the Gods and elected by the people every few years your democracy is out."

"Oh." She said softly, then a small smile came to her face. "And Kivar doesn't have it, that's why there's no mention of the crown or Granolith seal on the uniforms."

"No, you do, and your idiotic husband." He stepped even closer, his lips brushing her ear, "And I want it."

A giggle escaped her mouth, before she slapped her hand over her mouth to try and stop the insane, near hysterity of her giggles.

He slapped her, causing her giggles to stop and for Tess to meet his eyes in her startled state of pain. His eyes were darker than they'd been a moment before, indication he was more emotional, but he didn't look it. He looked colder than before, more like the murderer he was.

Tess stepped back, stopping her first reaction of reaching up to feel the bruise. Instead curling her hand into a fist. "In living twice I've learned one thing, Nkyot. People like us rarely get what we want but in the end we always get what we deserve."

He laughed, doubling over at the waist and Tess felt Tav rush up in her like a cool wave, backing up her words and agreeing with them.

"People like us?" He sputtered tossing himself carelessly into an arm chair with a quirked eyebrow and daredevil grin that reeked of Kivar. "Never thought I'd hear those words come out of your haughty mouth. Because you and I are nothing alike, you don't know the hells I've been through or the ones I've created for myself."

She sat gracefully, perching on the edge of a chair with a cynical laugh. "Don't go there, Nkyot. I've got 2 traumatic childhoods to draw on, if you want to compare scars I have plenty. But that's not how I meant it."

Another quirked eyebrow, another borrowed charismatic mechanism so familiar of Kivar and Rath. Except on Nkyot it was so much more affected and less natural. Maybe just maybe it was something they'd been taught, the chameleon personality in their training so long ago. Some wounds never heal and some scars never go away.

"So pray tell, what did you mean?"

Tricky, tricky, tricky, she must play her cards carefully now. If she did this right she could get herself and Q out of here. Honesty was the only way, but partial honesty.

"People like us, the important players on Antar's stage. No matter how you spin it or deny it, we're the ones with all the power. Our decisions become Antar's fate, our mistakes her suffering. And so the stakes are so much higher and more precise between us and the Gods. We have our choices and we pay dearly for them, in this life or the next or even both. So you're just like me, every decision, every move is a calculated one, weighted against pros and cons. I may not intentionally or physically kill but it doesn't mean my decisions aren't coated in blood."

A speculative look came onto his face, "Referring to Q? Seems everyone wants to have blood on their hands for her death. And does your little theory apply to her death, did she deserve it?"

Tess eyed him closely for a long moment, there was something in his eyes, something that had been festering there for a long time. "I'll tell you if you answer me one question. Do you regret her death, killing her?"

That something in his eyes flared up, streaking across his eyes like a comet. "A bit. I never realized how heavy the silence was until Antar no longer had her music to lighten the load. It was like the Gods withdrew completely. She was probably the only truly innocent and beautiful thing I'd ever seen and I killed her, it was my job. It's in my nature, and I enjoyed it, I reveled in the after effects, in how it destroyed Rath."

His smile was cold, his last words meant to incite and evoke, to hide the slip up, the raw truth of his earlier words. She merely smiled again, so the monster had a heart, or at least part of one.

"To answer your question, mo I wasn't referring to Q but to another's death. I chose to love him, to bind our souls and in making that choice I condemned him to die." Another bitter smile at the surprise, he hadn't been able to hide. Here they were the confessor and the confessee, each a bit of both.

"To be Royal you must be burdened by many secrets."

"And Q? Did she deserve to die?' He asked eagerly, as if needing an affirmation or maybe he was just testing her in this bout of words.

Tess took a deep breath, letting Tav guide her. 'In a way, yes, Q was not blameless in her own death. She had many choices in front of her, but because of inexperience and her fear she chose not to act. She innocently believe that as long as she didn't sides nothing could proceed until she decided, and that Rath and her status as Chosen would protect her. In one sense she had the most power of all, the Gods sent her as a tool to be used but left her with a decision that would alter Antar's path either way."

"But she chose Rath," he pointed out.

"No, she chose to love him. But she didn't chose his side, if she had she would have told him what you'd been doing to her all along, she would have used her voice get Kivar thrown out."

Nkyot was quiet for a long moment, waiting and thinking. Then his eyes met hers, "the time has come for her to make that choice. The choice whether to give me Antar let it burn. And this time she must chose."

He paused letting that sink in while he stood. He walked towards the door, stopping at it, "You have a choice to make too, Tess. Whether to keep that tarnished crown you wear or to free Antar from her enslavement to dead Royalty."

He turned to go but her calm voice stopped him, 'The choice is not to give it up or not, that I've already decided."

He turned back to her leaning against the door frame tautly, "and your decision?"

She smiled, "To give it up, of course, but to who is a completely different question. And being a sociopathic mass murder, disqualifies you."

"I wouldn't be so sure of your decision. I think you need to clear your mind and rethink it." He said coldly, straightening up angrily.

He opened the door, letting his instructions to the guard be heard, "Our Blessed Guest and the Queen will be visiting the First Order wing of the castle. They need their minds and earthly bodies purified in the old way."

…………………………………………………….

Isabel awoke slowly to find herself in the big bed that was once Zan and Tav's. In the chair besides the bed sat Kivar brooding, he glanced over at her and his expression softened, "So you're awake."

She nodded sitting up slowly, almost wearily because she felt…..different. It was like a mental block had been removed and all of her anxiety about who she'd been and what she'd done was gone with it. Something told her that should have been disturbing to her, but the thought drifted away as quickly as it came.

"You ok, darling? You look a bit dazed.." His voice was concerned as he leaned closer to the bed.

"I just have a new outlook on life. It's like I'd been dreading the end of the story for so long and now that I know it, everything is back in perspective." She told him quietly, confessing to him like she always had.

"So you don't hate me?" He asked carefully, though his golden eyes blazed with anticipation for her answer.

"I'd like to go back to Tess and Maria," she aid softly as she swung her legs over the edge of the bed. His question was one she wasn't ready to answer, that was still so unclear, how she felt about him. But she did know that it wasn't hate, and that led her to places her heart shouldn't go. Places she should have never gone to before, the beautiful places that had once trapped her and freed her at once, the places that led her to commit some terrible deeds.

His golden eyes were piercing hers and she was sure he could see the answer to his questions. He simply smiled and held out his hand to help her up.

She took it unthinkingly and was thrust into the connection they shared. The all warming sparks shooting up her spine and making her tingle all over and the rosy haze setting in. She tried to release but he pulled her close, his voice soft as velvet in her ear.

"Never forget my love, that I am your one and only. The only shot at happiness you get. When you look at another all you will see is that he isn't me."

He released her and after a moment her world righted itself, feeling oddly empty. She glared at him, "You did that on purpose."

He didn't deny her accusation, he merely smiled and lightly said his peace, "I've waited 50 years for you, for this, I wouldn't deny myself the pleasure of reminding you."

"I hate you!" She screamed at him, at the smug look on his face, at knowing that he was right. She turned to go, her eyes hot with tears at the unfairness of her situation, at the dire truth in his words.

"No, you don't." The somberness of his tone froze her in her tracks, her back to him.

"You can't because you know what I did was for the best. I killed you to give us the second chance that we couldn't, that you wouldn't let us have. I did for you what Q did for Rath, except I didn't die, I had to live with the emptiness every second of every day, Isabel. You merely have spent your life looking for me in guy after guy, keeping them all away because they weren't me and deep down you knew they couldn't make you happy. It was all in preparation until this could be again." His voice was raw and jagged, his inner hell tearing out, ripping his normally lilted voice to shreds.

She wiped impatiently at the tears streaming down her face, trying to ignore the racings of her heart, her hear that she now knew for certain beat in tandem with another's. As long as he'd been the faceless enemy on another planet, merely a shadow in her memory she'd been able to ignore it. To ignore the dangerous pull that had made her walk off a cliff once before.

She took one step and then another, and another dragging herself away by sheer force of will. His voice was still raw when he called out as she reached the door, "Fight it all you want, Isabel, but it's stronger now. We are meant in a way that Lonnie and I weren't. We can be enemies all we want but in the end we'll be together or we'll be nothing."

Another tear rolled down her cheek as resolutely stepped through the door. She made it through the throne room before throwing herself into the nearest empty room sinking to the floor.

And there on the floor of the sanctuary alcove she began to sob in earnest for what once was, what might have been and what could be.


	39. Chapter 32

**AN: **It's been forever, I know and I'm truly sorry if the sporadic updates have made you lose interest or abandon the story all together. Writing took a back seat to real life, RAing took up a lot more time than expected, as did everything else, I had a lot of writer's block finishing up the story, and even now I keep rewriting the part that comes after this trying to make it perfect. This part is ok, not great, I'm not super happy with it, but more satisfied. There was so much writers block going into it I'm honestly just happy I got it written. ** The good news is the story is almost over, and all of the parts will be out soon, no more waiting. Because it's been so long and so many loose ends are starting to tie up I really recommend rereading, if you have the time or desire, because that's what I had to do because I'd forgotten so much. I love the reviews, I reread them when I need a kick and would cherish anymore you send my way! Muchachos thanks to my short and sweet reviews: dangerouscutestuff, Redjewel2662,**** journeylove, Magali and irishgirl9.**

**Misty8: Aww thank you, actually reading so many cliched and overdone versions of the past life made me start to think about it and try and write a version that satisfied me. **

**Tini: I'm glad you kind of maybe like Isabel and Kivar, I always felt he was portrayed really one sided and horribly in the show and we never really got to see why she would love him, or do what she did to her family. Plus I feel like Isabel really needed someone to match her in a way Alex and Jesse never quite did. Good guess on everything not being black and white! It's a big theme in the story.**

**Candylovin Fehrian: I know what you mean about it taking time to get back into it, it does that to me too, when I first try and write it again its hard to get back in the groove. I'm glad the hate for Nkyot continues, he really is, and I thought he was one of, if not the best, villain on the show. I hope you enjoy the part! **

**Hope you enjoy the part and let me know either way, I'm still reworking the story. **

**Collision Part 32 "Shades of Gray"**

_remember when the answer seemed so clear_

_We had never lived with doubt, or tasted fear_

_It was easy then to tell truth from lies_

_Selling out from compromise_

_Who to love and who to hate_

_The foolish from the wise_

_But today, there is no day or night_

_Today, there is no dark or light_

_Today, there is no black or white_

_Only shades of gray_

_Shades of Gray- The Monkees _

"How much longer do we have to wait?" Michael snapped to nobody in particular.

"Until Kyle and everyone else is rested enough for intergalactic domination." Alex replied, aggravated.

Both aliens shot Alex dark looks, Max turned to Michael. "You should try to get some rest too."

Michael ran one hand roughly through his hair, "No, I don't need any."

Max shot Alex a long, pointed glance until Alex, with a huff, got up. "I'm going to call my parents and make up some school excuses or something."

After Alex left the living room Max leaned forward, "You're about to burn out, Michael. I can feel the instability in your power and even if I couldn't I can see the sparks you're shooting off."

Michael cut him off with a terse snap, "I'm fine."

"No, you're not. You're about to crack." Max's voice was equally as forceful, the King in him coming to the forefront.

"I'm fine, Zan!" He said, standing angrily as a vase next to him exploded.

They both looked at it, Michael deflating back into the chair as Max looked to the door. But for once nobody was coming to check on them to see what was wrong.

"Zan?" Max asked quietly, leaning back in his own chair with a worried look on his face.

Michael ran both hands through his hair this time, as if it could clear his mind. "I don't know, Max. I'm so wound up, I'm starting to lose my identity."

Max nodded, "You should try and get some rest, then. It'll be easier if you're not so exhausted."

"No." His response was immediate, another hand swooshing through his already messy spikes. "I mean what if when I go to sleep he just takes over? He's so angry, Max, it's like his emotions are mine but a lot stronger and more intense."

Max wasn't sure he could imagine a more emotional and intense Michael if he hadn't known Rath. Instead he sidestepped that. "Maria used to ask my why everything with you always had to be such a struggle. I don't know why it is, but you can't fight it forever, Michael. It only makes things worse."

The rebuttal, the denial was framed on Michael's lips but another voice cut him off.

"Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without. Ah, the quote that led me to Buddha." Kyle said from the doorway looking as regal as a cowboy could.

Michael rolled his eyes, challenging Kyle as he walked across the room. "Are you even allowed to sputter that Buddha garbage anymore? You know, since you sold your soul to Antar or something."

Kyle threw himself into Alex's vacated chair with a shrug, "They're all the same power, just different representations and they don't deny the wisdom in words spoken by another God."

Michael merely looked blank so Kyle shrugged, going on, "You should listen to the statement. You'll never be able to conquer your past demons until you've made peace within yourself."

'Hippie bullshit." Michael snapped starting to stand.

Kyle reached out grabbing his wrist with a surprisingly strong grip. "I'm serious Michael, until you and Rath stop warring within your mind I won't take you to Antar."

Michael exploded trying to shake Kyle off, "What? You can't do that!"

Kyle thrust Michael down into the chair by his wrist. "Until you and Rath are of one mind this mission has no chance of succeeding, and I refuse to endanger Tess or Maria's lives like that."

Kyle released Michael, sitting back down heavily in his own chair in the silence that followed. His own somber, serious voice still echoing around the room, he looked at both Max and Michael. The first eyes were met with silence and the second merely glared defiantly so he continued on, his voice darker than it had ever been when he was just human.

"The little gift of prescience I have makes it very clear that letting you go in with you and Rath at war ends in disaster and death. So figure it out now."

Michael dropped his face into his hands, rubbing vigorously in frustration. Kyle could barely hear the whisper, the cry of determination, "Maria."

Michael got up, standing slowly, "I'll be back, I've got to figure things out."

He headed for the door, only Max's voice freezing him in the doorway, "Where are you going?"

He turned, the light from outside streaming in behind him, leaving his face in a dark shadow. "To face my past, all of it."

He left, leaving Kyle and Max sitting in silence for a long moment until Max's worried voice sounded out. "Think he'll work it out?"

Kyle's voice was still moody, "He has to."

"Who has to what?" Alex asked, walking in from the kitchen looking around.

"Michael has to work on his issues," Kyle said.

"About time," Alex muttered sitting down. He glanced up, "So when are you guys leaving for the rescue mission?"

"That depends on Michael." Kyle said, relaxing further into his chair.

Max looked up at Kyle, his voice tense and worried. "You said you had prescience? What else did you see…you know besides doomed failure and all of that?"

"Not much, mainly heartbreak." Max could have sworn Kyle's eyes flicked to Alex and away quickly at the last part.

"Anything about Isabel?" Alex queried, a worried but eager tone to his voice.

This time Kyle deliberately looked away from Alex at Max, "Just that her voice needs to be heard, no matter how much the words hurt."

"Do you know what she'll say?" Alex again, still worried.

Kyle flipped a hand through his hair, "No idea, I just get a vague resonation in the back of my mind, highlighting what's important. But the murmur is always changing."

Kyle calmly took a bowie knife out of the sheath on his belt and reached for a sharpening stone. He methodically started to sharpen the knife in the silence, wondering how many conversations had been had over weapons preparation for war. How many times had Rath and Kivar done this back on Antar?

"So what do we do now?" Alex asked, fidgeting, he wasn't a fighter.

"We wait." It was Max's quiet voice as he stared at the stone going back and forth along the blade.

Kyle grinned up at them, he could never be gloom and doom all day long, "Did I tell you guys how I killed this giant scorpion on Antar?"

"No!" Alex and Max cried out in unison, not wanting to hear about it.

Kyle opened his mouth to tell them anyway when Max cut him off. "You said something about giving Kivar a conscience? Tell us about that instead."

"Those who cause suffering shall suffer. There is no escape." Said a voice from the door causing the three boys to look that way.

"Right Kyle?" The sheriff asked coming into the room.

A look of surprise washed across Kyle's face, "How did you know that?"

The sheriff gave a one shouldered shrug, "When you turned to Buddhism I figured I'd see what it was all about, you know make sure it wasn't anything dangerous." There was a pause, "Guess I'll have to do that again, now that you've converted," he joked.

Kyle gave his Dad a real, if surprised and grateful, smile. He'd never known his Dad had dome that, had taken that extra step to try and understand him. It made him feel warm inside, in a totally unmasculine way. His dad was more accepting than he'd thought, maybe, just maybe they'd be ok after all.

"Anyway." Kyle stated to cover up the slightly awkward silence, "Dad was right, and it was something Kivar needed to be consciously aware of. When the Gods interviewed me about what I would do with power I told them that I wanted to give soulless K a conscience, not directly change the events that happened. They liked the answer and I got the job."

"But how did you do it? You were only gone for like a second, just long enough for Michael to be all emo." Alex asked, supplying his own take on the events.

"I went back in time on Antar, to the Adulation festival. It's the night where all the normal lines between mortal and immortal, living and dead are blurred. So it's not uncommon to see strangers, or Gods, walking around giving gifts of power or advice. So I talked to him and gave him his 'gift.'"

"What's he like? I want to know what we're up against." The sheriff asked.

"He's one slimy bastard, charismatic but its only skin deep. He's…." Kyle trailed off looking to Max for help.

Max shut his eyes his voice thoughtful, "He's twisted, a product of their training. Insane, terribly angry but he hides it well, covers it with ambition and charm."

Kyle chipped back in, "He's a lot like Michael, but a Michael who pretended to care about other people. Like a Michael with tact, but no soul…"

Alex made a face, "Sounds like just the guy we want the girls stuck with."

"I wouldn't worry about Kivar, if I were you, he loves Rath too much to hurt a single hair on Maria's head. He practically worshipped Rath and when he died, well Kivar went into mourning. I would be worried about Nkyot." Nacedo said from the doorway, walking in without so much as a greeting. He surveyed the room in one glance, "Where is Rath?"

"Michael went to figure things out." Max responded through gritted teeth.

"Where have you been?" Kyle snapped, no such deference or courtesy in his tones.

"I only explain myself to the Royal Four." Nacedo said calmly glancing at Kyle before turning away. Then slowly his head swung back around, doing a double take.

"What are you?" He asked in a slightly frightened tone, the first bit of emotion they'd ever heard in his voice.

Kyle's eyes lit up, he was enjoying this immensely. "You can't tell?"

Nacedo's eyes widened, "You can't be, the Gods wouldn't have….."

Kyle stood, "Oh but they did, and here I am."

He took several steps, closing the space between them so that only Nacedo could hear his icy voice. "I know exactly what you did. Redemption has one chance."

Nacedo bowed his pale face in deference as Kyle stepped away, "I apologize, Blessed one… I had not expected this.."

"Life is unexpected. So where were you?" Max's voice was tense, cold.

"Protecting you four, of course, eliminating the remaining skins."

"Fine job you did! Tess, Isabel and Maria got taken. Where was your protection then?" Max asked a decisive sneer to his tones.

"I thought in pairs you would be safe, it was my error. I've come with a plan of how to get to Antar, Sire."

"The Gods have already provided for that, via Kyle. So if you don't have anything else to offer you can go." Max turned away, no time for their so called protector.

"I will come as a bodyguard, it's what I'm trained for."

There was a long moment of silence as Max thought about it, but a different voice answered. It was dark, much colder than its normal tones. "Fine, but know I don't trust you and at the first sign of disloyalty I will kill you."

Nacedo nodded after one look at Michael. Except it wasn't just Michael anymore, Rath was lurking in his gaze, as if he was standing in the ever present shadows. He was frightening to look at now, even more terrifying than when Rath took over. Rath's ruthlessness was there lurking just under the surface instead of radiating out from him. The power seemed more of Michael's, intense and waiting to explode. He wasn't just an angry teenager anymore, here was a man who easily could have once been a God.

Kyle met Michael's eyes for a long moment, "When do we leave?"

"At sundown here and moonrising on Antar."

Michael took several steps into the room, his eyes never leaving Nacedo. "What are you doing? What's that sound?"

Nacedo looked back at him, then at Max. "He is calling you."

…………………………….

Michael was plunged into darkness, Max at his side. For one long, horrifying moment there was nothing and then a figure melted out of the shadows. An achingly familiar figure to Michael, with eyes reflecting gold back at them. For one moment Max's mind irrationally turned to the sun God, Apollo, before reality sank in.

But Michael's frigid tones snapped him back into reality, "Kivar."

Kivar avoided looking at Michael, instead turning to Max with a small incline of his head. "Max, former King of Antar, Michael, former High Commander, I greet you both formally so that the negotiations may begin."

The rest of the room illuminated, the Council's chamber complete with the large empty table and banners with Kivar's crests decorating the walls.

"Where are we?" Max asked carefully keeping his voice modulated to betray none of the raging emotions in his mind.

"An artificial dream plane, both your bodies are sleeping soundly on Earth, as is mine on Antar. Shall we begin?"

"I don't negotiate." Michael's overly glacial tones rang out, like metal clashing against metal.

Kivar's voice was still lilting with just a note of strain underneath as he took the King's chair at the table. "Which is why negotiations are conducted between Kings, not Generals."

Max could almost feel Michael reaching for his power and it was just as sure Kivar could too. His voice was calm, if a bit satisfied. "I wouldn't bother, there is no power in this place. You can't hurt me, nor I you."

Max shot Michael a warning look as he took a seat, knowing that Michael would try anyway.

"What are your terms, Kivar?" He asked, settling into Zan's old ways as King almost unknowingly, the only sign was that the burdens he carried were heavier.

"We are not negotiating, Maxwell." It was a hiss from Michael, his anger splashing and burning them both.

Max turned towards him, his voice low, painfully aware that Kivar was watching. "No, Michael you are not negotiating, I am. You aren't the only one who gets to make decisions."

Max turned back to Kivar's silent golden gaze, giving a small nod for Kivar to continue. "As of now Tess, Maria and Isabel are being treated with the highest respect as visiting dignitaries. It was not my intention to bring our feud back to Antar's soil, as it creates many more problems for myself."

"Not you're intention?" Michael snapped in disbelief, "What did you accidentally order a kidnapping? Still breaking promises, I see."

Kivar swallowed heavily and gave a sharp shake no, "Nkyot felt such an initiative to transport them on his own. As such he has been relieved of his duties."

"Oh, and how did that go over, old friend? Did he stab you again like last time or merely try?" Michael, or Rath asked, a wicked gleam of amusement in his too dark brown eyes.

Kivar ignored the taunt, "My terms are as follows. I want the Crown of Antar, which you currently hold, passed to me. A blood bond from both of you and Tess promising to never seek power on Antar again. As well as the Granolith returned."

"And what would we get in return?" Max asked thoughtfully, the terms didn't seem too horrible.

"Amnesty, all of my people would withdraw from Earth and no more sent. And the return of Tess and Maria, unharmed."

Max glanced quickly at Michael, whose stony face told him nothing. "And what about Isabel?"

Kivar looked pained at the sound of her name, appearing markedly older. "She stays with me where she belongs."

"No." Max's voice was hard and definite.

"She's not Vilandra, Kivar." Michael's voice had just a touch of sympathy in it, it's barely heard, merely a softening of the sharp edges.

Kivar looked at him for the first time, no longer able to pretend as if he's not there. Now he must acknowledge his past mistakes because they are staring back at him with honest, angry eyes.

"I'm aware of that." Kivar paused, unsure which name to call the man in front of him, this blending of the past and present.

"You can't have with her what you had with Vilandra. It doesn't work that way, believe me I know." Michael pressed on, fighting for his sister's freedom.

"No." Kivar snapped, the deep frustration that has clogged his soul for so long shining through. "I can have more with her. Isabel is who Vilandra always fought to be, but never quite was."

A silence enveloped the room, Kivar's words hanging heavily in the air. His hopes and dreams are so easily seen, but clashing against the harshness of reality. The gridlock presses down around them, Michael and Max unable to agree and Kivar unable to let her go.

Finally Max's voice breaks the silence, pretending for a moment he is actually considering the offer. "And what proof do you have that they are well and unharmed."

Kivar's golden gaze is unforgiving, "I am not stopping you from contacting them, only your human limitations are. But even with that I suspect that Michael would know if Maria had been injured in any way."

Max glanced at Michael out of the corner of his eye, only to receive a small, negative headshake. All was well with Maria at least.

Max stood slowly, "I cannot let my sister be left with you."

Kivar's voice has not lost hope, "Can you let her decide for herself?"

Max thinks silently, while Michael chooses to speak. "What about my terms, Kivar?"

"Name them."

"Nkyot dead, a life for a life." Michael's voice is hard, a bloodlust for revenge in Rath.

"And what do I get in return?" Kivar asks, though they both know he will agree to the deal anyway, he owes it.

"The mercy you never gave me." It's a harsh reminder of a broken promise from a lifetime ago, a harsh reminder of the battle yet to come.

"Done." Kivar says with a nod, his lilting tones almost jovial. Does it mean that he has no expectations of getting out alive, or that he doesn't care?

"Isabel comes home or there's no deal. I cannot let her sacrifice herself." Max says at last, steel in his voice.

"So mote it be." Kivar says with a nonchalant shrug and disappears.

………………………………………….

Maria leaned closer to Tess as the rustling outside the door got louder, her voice urgent. "You've got to find Isabel. I'm going to request to see the First Order to try and slow down us getting purified."

"What? No, we can't separate. Maria, you can't do anything rash or stupid!" Tess whispered back just as urgently, as the guard opened the door. He beckons for Maria and she glances back at Tess over her shoulder.

"Relax, when have I ever done anything rash or stupid?"

Tess stared at her in utter disbelief, has she forgotten her entire first life? But before she can say anything Maria is addressing the guard. "Take me to the First Order. I have a message to deliver."

"The General has ordered you purified, your message will have to wait." The guard snaps reaching for her arm.

But Maria steps back, straightening up and letting the remnants of Q's broken, but gifted, voice flow out. "And who has more power, the Gods or Nkyot? The Gods do not wait on a mortal's orders."

"Maria, what are you doing?" It's a hiss, but she's barely heard concentrating instead on watching the color drain from the guard's face, as the realization of who she once was sets in.

"Yes, Blessed One, right away. My apologies." He ushers her out of the room, allowing only time for one triumphant smile to be shot at Tess.

She followed him at a brisk pace, elated that she's gotten this far in her plan but starting to panic. That was the extent of her plan, and now she was about to come face to face with the organization that had ruled and terrorized her in her last life. Could she fake a message from the Gods, was that even allowed? And if she did what on Earth could she say to make it believable?

But they were there before she had any real idea of what she would say, hysteria was setting in as the guard led her into the Granal's office then left. Her breath was in short little pants and she wasn't even trying to control it, instead she stared at the back of the chair in pure terror. Q's old fears started to overwhelm her, the memories of the beatings, the harsh words so fresh in her mind.

"I've been waiting for you," A voice said from the other side of the chair, but it wasn't right, it didn't strike a tremor in her soul.

The occupant of the chair spun around so that he was facing her.

"Arhal!" It was a joyous shriek as all of her terror left her in a woosh.

"Thank God it's you, I didn't have anything to say!"

He smiled, but it quickly faded into a more somber expression. "The 2 men who ruled over you with iron fists are both dead. Much time has passed since you last were here, and much has changed."

She ignored that statement, instead focusing on her current and dire situation. "You've got to help me, Arhal. Nkyot's going to purify me to try and use my voice for him. I can't, it's not who I am anymore!"

He was quiet for what seemed like a long time, picking his words carefully. "I'm the Oracle, Maria, you know I cannot interfere."

"But…" She tried but he held up his hand, silencing her.

"You cannot deny the path you must take. The bonds of destiny do not break, no matter how hard we wish the might. If every person who wanted out of destiny was allowed to both of our worlds would have very few heroes." His voice was calm but carried a heavy weight of reprimand.

"Q had a destiny, not me, and she messed it up. It's not my job to pick up the pieces, I live on Earth, remember?" She argued desperately, wanting to deny it all.

Something in his mirrored eyes shone like pity. "Death does not break destiny, merely delays it. You more so than all the others, except perhaps Kyle, are bound to Antar until your death. There is no escaping that."

"Kyle? Kyle's completely human." She claimed as a distraction, not wanting his words to sink in, because if they did she might completely lose it. Antar was in the past, one of Michael's dreams not hers.

Arhal gave a long exhale, "Not anymore."

"What?!" It was a near hysteric shriek, she could not take this anymore.

"We made him into one of the Chosen. He has decided to bind his life to Antar."

"Well goody for him! I didn't, ok? I never chose this, I never wanted this destiny, I don't even know what it is!" Her anger lashed out in a scream, her normal tones changing, morphing into tones more melodious. Tones that were once her greatest gift and her biggest downfall.

"You chose not to act last time, you were waiting for someone else to save you and because of that our world fell."

She could not believe this, he was not pinning this on her, she wasn't the one with the desire to take over the world. "So did you! You knew what was coming and chose not to do a damn thing about it, so don't throw that in my face!"

His face looked pained at her words, but a knock at the door erased the expression. The door opened, not waiting for a reply. There they stood, all of them, her family from last time, all of their mirrored eyes shining with joy.

"Is it really you, Q?" Jonreh asked.

She nodded unsure what to do, but another question was thrown at her, "So its true, Kivar is going to be overthrown by Rath and Zan?"

Arhal's eyes met hers and held them, "Only if we help."

The room was filled with all of their voices talking at once, "Q the guard is coming for you."

"Don't let him take me, don't let them purify me. It'll kill me." Her voice was hysterical now, all of the earlier fears slamming down on her.

Silence fell, Jonreh looked confused and a bit scared, "It won't kill you, little sister, only purify you so that you can access your gifts more fully."

"It's barbaric and painful and I'm human!" She cried.

"It is our way." Jonreh said to a murmur of agreements and nods, looking at her as if she was the barbarian.

The guard was there, reaching for her arm but Arhal's gaze stilled him. "This is not Earth, Maria. This is Antar, where the Gods are alive and their prophets walk the lands. This is where old traditions live and once choice, left undecided for so long, shapes our world's future."

The guard was dragging her from the room, but she screamed back at them in fear, anger and frustration. "What choice? What am I supposed to do? How will I know?"

But the door had been shut and her only reply was the guard's echoing silence. She was truly alone in a world she didn't understand with a destiny she didn't want.

………………………………………………………

"What is this?" Isabel demanded as the guard left the room quickly. She stared at the intimate table set for two on the balcony of her old room.

He studied her carefully for a moment, she was sure he could tell she'd been crying by her puffy eyes, and lack of makeup. He made no comment on her condition, instead giving her a golden smile with an impish twinkle in his eyes.

"The last supper."

She rolled her eyes, Kivar's sense of humor had always been terrible and his jokes worse. But despite herself she sat down in the proffered chair, just now realizing how hungry she was.

"What are we having?" She asked, deciding to be cordial but distant, maybe that way her heart would stay in check. He smiled again and her stomach flipped over, then again maybe it wouldn't.

He lifted the lid off the platter in the center of the table.

"Pancakes?" She asked completely confused, deciding she must be having a very odd dream. Kivar shrugged, almost but not quite embarrassed.

"Guilty pleasure I picked up during my travels."

She narrowed her eyes as he filled her plate, "Travels to where exactly?"

His golden eyes snapped to hers, piercing her soul causing her hands to tremble. "I think you know exactly where."

She shut her eyes as his voice with a much lighter tone carried on, "Actually I discovered pancakes at that little alien themed place that Michael works at. How fitting it all started at the Crashdown Café."

She ignored his light chatter in her overwhelmed state of emotion, only able to force the question she so desperately needed answers to, though deep down she already knew.

"When?" Her strangled voice cut across his narrative and she heard him put his knife and fork down followed by a painful sounding swallow. His voice had a choked quality to it, one that was too real to have ever been faked, "The night you hatched."

He paused, giving her the chance to say something, anything, but she clung to her silence like a lifesaver. She didn't want to hear what came next but needed to, craved it.

"I felt it, you, the moment you woke. It was like a burning star cutting through the blackness of my despair. I didn't believe it was real at first, thinking it was merely another fit of dementia. But I couldn't stop myself from going, I was drawn." His voice was choked, but the memory was alive around them and she could feel herself slipping back to that night.

Her voice was soft, husky because of the threatening tears, "It wasn't Michael's hand that slipped away and took all of my comfort and security with it, was it?"

She opened her eyes, hearing only his long exhale, her eyes meet his black ones and he swallowed the lump in his throat. "No. Rath and Zan were starting to hatch so I let go, I stayed long enough to make sure the people in the car saw something."

She opened her mouth to rage at him, to tell him how she'd cried herself to sleep for years because she'd been missing something thinking it was Michael. She'd been so worried for him, when it hadn't been Michael at all, she'd been crying for him, just like she'd been looking for him in every guy ever since. He held up his hand to silence her.

"But Rath saw me, or felt me through the shreds of our training bond, I'm not sure which. I could feel his fear of the unknown, but I was familiar, and he let go. I left, abandoning him again." His voice was quiet but cut and dry, completely cut off from the blackness of emotion that engulfed his eyes.

Rage boiled in her, rage at what he'd done, to her, the pain and tears she'd cried when she'd thought it had been Michael's hand slipping away. But more rage at what he'd done to Michael, the life he'd condemned him to, Hank, the trailer, the beatings. "You..You.."

He cut across her again, this time his voice was loaded with all of the guilt a man's soul could possess, his two words silencing her, "I. know."

As quickly as her anger had come it dissipated with one look at his haunted eyes. But then she'd never been able to stay angry with him not even when he'd killed her family. Instead she felt tired, bone achingly tired and a deep and profound pity for him even as her stomach was flip flopping.

H laughed, it was dark and bitter, coated in self loathing, "It's not so easy to hate when evil has a soul. Is it, Isabel?"

No, she thought softly, it wasn't. She'd always thought good and evil were supposed t be clear cut, black and white, not the blurred shades of gray that she saw.

She ate silently, unsure of what to say next, unsure even of what her heart felt. It wasn't hate, she knew that by now, but she couldn't accept that it might be love. She'd just met him in this life and he'd hurt her so much last time. But he seemed different now, as thought something had changed, as if he actually cared when other people got hurt. Maybe time had tempered him, maybe loneliness or bitterness.

"So I talked with your brother and Rath. I offered to return Maria and Tess and cease the feud if you got to stay," His voice was conversational, but oddly high, the suave charmer showing cracks at last.

"And?" She asked, as her stomach flipped again. She couldn't tell if it was dread or anticipation that she might stay with him.

"Your brother cannot abandon you to life with me." His voice was dead, the same emotional block in place.

Of course, noble Max who leaves no one behind. She wasn't surprised, but she did feel oddly disappointed. She tried to think of Alex and bright blue eyes and corny jokes, but blue kept turning to gold.

"Oh."

"I suspect that they'll be around to collect you all sometime soon." His voice was matter of fact, as if he didn't care.

"So shouldn't you be, um, preparing for that?" She asked quietly, if she knew Michael this would be all out war.

He quirked an eyebrow up, "Why bother? Half of my army will join them once they realize it's Rath and Nkyot's planning his own coup. Either way I won't be in power much longer. A half smile, some of the bitterness fading from his tones. "I don't care about keeping Maria or Tess, you're the one thing I'll still fight for."

She stared at him in confusion, this wasn't the Kivar she'd known, but then again she wasn't the Vilandra he'd known either. "So you're just giving up?"

He laughed, "No. I'm an elite, Isabel, all I know how to do is fight. It is our way."

"But they'll kill you." And when she said they, she meant Michael.

He reached out taking her hand, his golden lilting voice filled with absolute truths. The kind that hurt to hear, that cut to the bone, but the kind that you have to hear to understand reality.

"I love you, Isabel, I always have and I always will. But just like I couldn't fight destiny then, I can't change who I am, at least in this life. I will fight, just as I always have, and I may lose. If I do, I pray that you don't know the desperate emptiness and eternal imbalance that I have known in your absence."

She stared at him, not knowing what to say, something in her chest was opening up and blooming. He turned away, his eyes looking at the moons that were beginning to rise. "I think," he said raising and offering her his hand, "It's time to go and face destiny."

Without hesitation she took his hand.

………………………………

Tess looked across the room to where Maria was hanging on the wall. She looked awful, blood running down her arms from the gaping purifying cuts.

"Maria?" She called, starting to worry at Maria's uncharacteristically long silence. Maria looked up, but it was different, her eyes were almost glowing. The shimmering of translucent opals over laying the bright green.

"Are you ok? You've just been really quiet." Tess offered, feeling her own blood drain away but none of the dizziness she kept waiting for.

Maria looked out the small window at the dark sky. Her voice was almost peaceful and decided, missing the hysteria that had choked her the last time she had spoken. Something had changed. "It's starting."

What was starting? The end? A new beginning? She didn't know and she didn't ask, because she felt it too. It was rising in her, warmth that tickled her toes and power that curled her fingertips. It swelled in her soul, the power she'd always felt just out of reach. Just as something had changed in Maria, it had changed in her, maybe everything had.

And she finally understood, "This is what the purification is really for, isn't it?"

Maria smiled, "Of course. It rarely works anymore, now it's just used as an intimidation tactic or punishment. A tradition kept alive for its power over others, not for its true purpose."

"Like the monarchy." Tess muttered bitterly, not able to match Maria's acceptance of an act used against her so many times before.

"Like the monarchy." Maria echoed. It was a whisper, a realization. It was a decision.

The door swung open and Nkyot swaggered in. "How are you two doing? Feeling the lovely effects of religion?"

He laughed as he came over and checked the levels of blood in Tess' buckets. Satisfied he turned his attention to Maria. He looked into her full buckets and didn't seem to notice that she wasn't weak. Instead he leaned towards her, "You've lost quite some blood. Such a shame that I'm ready to negotiate."

Maria remained silent and his lips curved up in a smile, perhaps taking her silence for fear. Tess could feel him pulling his power around him, she'd never been able to feel other's power quite as tangibly before.

"It'll only hurt a little bit, and this time there won't be a Queen to sweep in and undo the damage." She felt his anger at her for that, it was coiled intertwined with his power as he reached out and grabbed Maria's head in his hands. Still she was silent and Tess pushed some of her power at Maria, around her.

He reached out with is malice and power and hit something, a wall. The momentary surprise was covered quickly with laughter. "Not quite as weak as I thought. Not a problem, we can fix that."

The glint of a knife and the whoosh of a slash across her wrist, deepening the cut.

"Don't!" Tess cried out, but it was already done. She gasped, she felt as if he had slid the blade across her own wrist. The connection once forged between their minds, in a time of need so like this one. A connection she'd reopened when she'd undone the damage to Maria's mind this time.

He glanced at her for a moment, the crazy imbalance in his gaze piercing her. "Rath's favorite spot. Or don't you remember his habits, Queen?"

She felt bile rising in her throat as he turned back to Maria, pressing himself up against her. It was a cruel parody of the Possession Ceremony where physical contact brought mental contact. Tess reached for the power, that full rising wave in her chest but she hesitated, something wasn't right.

It burned, a sharp flash like a comet going off in her mind. It was pure joy, utter astonishment, it was the return and renewal of an old love and the beginning of a new one. Tess gasped, looking to Maria, it must have come from her. Nkyot stepped back, looking at Maria as though he'd been burned.

Maria's eyes lit up, looking at both of them, but seeing something else entirely. She smiled.

"He's here."

Nkyot didn't ask who, he didn't need to. He didn't stop to ask how, or make a pithy comment. He merely paled a few shades and left the room at a brisk trot. His goals forgotten.

…………….

Michael came roaring out of the portal first, he was crouched, weapons drawn and power charged. He was expecting Arhal, but not the room crammed full of eager faces that greeted him. Max came through next, not bothering to wait for the all clear signal, followed quickly by the Sheriff, Nacedo and Kyle.

"What the hell?" Michael asked in anger and disbelief, glaring both at Arhal and at Kyle.

Kyle's response was merely a shrug with a touch of a smile on his face as he was drawn into a rough hug by some of his fellow Chosen. Arhal was more forthcoming, "A revolution has to have soldiers."

Michael ignored him, feeling Maria, needing, craving to know she was safe. And if she wasn't to make her safe. He took several steps towards the door, "This isn't a revolution, it's a rescue mission."

"Michael, wait!" It was Max, understanding and trying to block the door. What about their plan?

Arhal grabbed Max by the arm, "Let him go. Michael, head back this way after."

Kyle with a glance at his father set out a step behind Michael, "We're coming too."

"Tess with her?" It was asked rhetorically. They both knew if Kyle was going she was.

They were quiet the rest of the silent jog to the First Order's wing, meeting nobody and merely letting Michael feel where she was. His heart was racing, terrified of what he would find, what he'd once had to see in this room, a lifetime ago with a different savior in the form of a Queen. Everything was different this time, so many roles reversed, but so much of it was the same again.

They turned the corner into the hallway, seeing the door left open, as if abandoned, or left in a hurry. Maybe a deep breath would have helped, but there was no time for that, not with the urgency that moved him forward.

He vaguely heard Kyle's gasp of horror and his exclamation of "Oh! Tess!" followed by the rush of footsteps. But it barely registered over the dual waves crashing over him; the first outrage, pure hatred and anger at whoever had done this, and the other half relief. She was alive, she was smiling at him, she was calling out his name in ringing tones. Which name she called, and which name he gasped out repeatedly, on the edge both tears and giddy relief, he never knew. He freed her from the chains quickly, a sharp burst of power and then she was in his arms.

It was the most glorious feeling, the smell of her hair, the feel of her shaking body pressed against his as he held her up, not bothering to lower her to the ground. Her arms around his neck and her lips against his, burning, asking, taking, relieving. It wasn't soft and sweet, it was rough and it was all of the fire and passion. It was perfect.

Michael's chest heaved with what could have been called a dry sob as he finally turned her face up to his, seeing her green eyes shining with tears and smoothing down her hair.

"You ok?" It was almost brusque, too much emotion, making his tone rough and sharp. A man who cared less might have said more, but he couldn't. He didn't bother to wait for the answer, already running his hands over her, checking for injury as his eyes noted every bruise and every scrape. The anger, immediate and sharp, cutting him every which way as he came to her wrists. An involuntary reaction, a flinch, the drawing of a blade stopped halfway through by her hand closing on his with a squeeze.

"Don't." It wasn't a request, not this life, here and now it was a demand, an order and one that he couldn't disobey. Instead he swallowed that feeling, instead placing his hand over her still bleeding wrist and pushing power through it, willing it to mend, to knit all of the damage that had been done. Her mind touched his, rushing in with all of the bliss and love he'd ever known, and with the icy touch he'd put there.

He moved to pull her close again, to not let the connection go but she stepped back. For once she was the one in control of her emotions, the silence and look in her eyes, saying enough. This wasn't just his bubbly Maria, this was a woman he'd known for so long and a creature he was fully unfamiliar with. There would be time later.

"You two ready?" The Sheriff asked, looking bemused and calling their attention back to the rest of the room. Michael glanced over at Tess and Kyle, who had their foreheads pressed together, with what suspiciously looked like tears shining in Tess' eyes.

"No, you can't be." It was Tess' voice, both unbelieving but with that hope that belays knowledge in her tones.

"Why not?" Kyle asked with a laugh, pulling away. "You should be the first to know about reincarnation and second chances."

"But..but…" she began again, but Kyle merely smiled. His smile saying what Maria's had. There would be time later.

Michael, back in control of his emotions looked at Maria. "We're taking you back to the portal, you're going straight back with the Sheriff. Max and I have to find Isabel and take care of some other business."

"No." She began, looking resolute but he cut across her.

"Maria." It was annoyed, aggravated beyond all belief. This was not the time.

"No. Michael." Hers matched his, stone for stone. He physically bit his cheek, he would throw her through the damn portal if he had too. Instead, deciding the time constraint was too much he grabbed her upper arm.

"Michael let go!" She dug her heels into the ground, stilling his motion. Fine he would drag her.

"I'm not going back. It's time." Her voice was almost desperate.

He let go of her arm angrily, flinging it away. Instead angrily running his hands through his hair, "Time for what? Get a fucking pedicure? You're going back. I can't… I won't…"

"Can't what, Michael?" Her voice was desperate now, that insecurity blazing through. She needed to hear it, always at the worst times.

"Stand the worry about you? Ok?" It was a snap, and she smiled brilliantly for a second before it disappeared. Her smiles made it worth the effort it took to let her know he cared.

"Well, don't. Ok? I'll have Kyle and Tess with me. Look, you've got to face your demons from the past. So do I, it's time I made the choice that I've avoided for so long. Maybe more than anyone else in this mess." The last part was an afterthought, more to herself.

She reached out, cradling his face in her hands, making him look at her, as if he'd taken his eyes off of her for a single second. "Do you trust me?"

He did, with absolutely everything, except her own safety. His hands bunched into fists, "Yes. But Kyle-"

Kyle cut him off, "I know, I know. I'll guard her with my life. Look, we've got to get back."

He nodded, moving forward, but Maria hadn't moved. He looked back over his shoulder, staring at the glint of the dog tags around her neck, catching her eyes. There it was, everything they rarely said, everything that pulsed in their veins and pushed at the surface, the intensity that sparked fights and instant annoyance, the intensity that had started a forbidden affair. The fervor that had survived the death of one, and the insanity of another, it couldn't, wouldn't be denied no matter what happened today or tomorrow. And it finally sunk in, this was forever, even if they both died today they would still find a way to be together. Oddly comforted he reached out his hand to her, catching the glint of his ring still on her finger.

She smiled and took it, understanding passing between them. Once they hit the hall and caught up with the others, she started to let go. "I'm going this way."

He had trouble making himself let go of her hand, and she stared at him silently for a moment. He swallowed, he had to say something. But she merely smiled one last time and turned to go.

"Maria, I-" He started, choking up. Why was it still so hard to say it? There were still so many walls built between them.

"I know. You don't have to say it." The same words she'd spoken before at another goodbye, another time he'd let her walk away into danger.

He stood there, swallowing, for a moment lost in the confusion of whether this was memory or reality, of who he was. Rath or Michael, or was it this odd combination of both that they'd reached. He slit his wrist as she disappeared around the corner.

"Woah there, Michael. Don't hurt yourself." The sheriff's voice combined with the pain brought him hurtling back to the present, he turned to stare at him. Something in his gaze caused the sheriff to shift uncomfortably and look away.

To cover it up the Sheriff started to walk his voice already sounding weary, "It's never easy with you kids, is it?"


	40. Chapter 33

**AN: Hey ya'll, this is the final part, excluding the epilogue. It's finally over and I wanted to thank everyone who has shared this journey with me, no matter at what point you started. This was my first attempt at fanfiction and I learned a lot as I went and had fun doing it, I never expected how much the reviews and words of encouragement would mean, or how much it would seem to touch people. So thank you, thank you for reading, thank you for sharing your thoughts with me, and thank you for loving these characters as much as I do. **

**Journeylove: I'm glad you like Kivar, Liz is at home with Alex and them, mainly because I have a really hard time writing Liz. I feel like I understood her the least on Roswell, as far as being able to write her, because there were moments on the show where I just didn't like her. eeep, that sounds harsh, but I wanted to portray everyone realistically and she is hard for me to do that with. As far as writing your own, I'd say start with a solid foundation, or idea of where you want to take it, imagine it in your head a few times before you try and commit the scene to paper, describing how it you see it in your mind. It's what I do at least, if you want to talk about it more, I'll be happy too!**

**SV: I love it when people find it later on in the story and get hooked, just be happy you found it near the end and didn't have the months long wait between other parts. I'm glad you love Kyle, I always felt like that's what he was for on the show, the humor, and I just love him too. I love Kivar too, I didn't mean too, I meant him to just be a villain but it didn't work out that way, he ended up like everyone else, 3 dimensional. The Valentis gotta keep the humor alive, you can't let it get too dark or it's just not Roswell anymore.**

** dangerouscutestuff: Kyle is bonded to Antar for good, yes. It's the path he chose and something he'll have to live with, more of that gets explained in the epi though. **

**RedJewel2662: Thanks for reading, and reviewing!!**

**Magali: Yep, it's showdown time. As far as Michael dying we just have to see.**

**Caitiri: Aww, thanks for rereading it! I hope you enjoy it! **

**Collision Part 33 Curtain Call  
**

_Is this the end of it all? _

_Because I've waited so long for you to come around again _

_I hope that your new life with him should turn out right _

_But the truth is that tonight should be my night _

_You look better than my best dream _

_I can't believe this is happening _

_"Curtain Call"- Cheswick _

"So you're really one of the Chosen, huh?" Tess asked glancing at Kyle from the side. Her eyes lingered on the new smoothness to his gait and the shimmering tattoos that crawled across his forearms like moonlight. They were walking a step behind Maria, following her to wherever they were headed. There was a new tension between them, a slight awkwardness now that Kyle was different.

"Yeah, see I wasn't just content with knowing aliens I had to top that and become one.." Kyle joked, but it was a bit flat.

She smiled anyway, her eyes lighting up before she glanced away from him again. "You know Buddha boy, it's kind of ironic considering just a few weeks ago you were wigging out because aliens existed. I mean you changed religions and stopped being an all around jerk. Now you've changed religions again and well become like a cult leader."

"I prefer the term superhero, or even Blessed One." Kyle cut in with a grin.

She rolled her eyes and nudged him, "Well I was going to say I was impressed by how much you've evolved but I see you're still just Scooby doo."

A delighted grin spread across his features, and glancing sideways he reached out taking her hand. "Ditto."

She smiled back at him shyly as they quickened their step catching up to Maria. This was a wonderful new beginning, or maybe just a wonderful ending.

"Where exactly are we going? I mean, not that I'm not happy to be walking aimlessly around a castle with guards who want to gut me, but I kinda want to know the plan….You do have a plan, right?" Kyle asked after a moment, looking nervously at Maria then back to Tess.

"I need the ceremonial garb, used for the public ceremonies. Then you have to paint me, it should be in here." Maria rattled off, as she quietly eased a door open.

Kyle quirked an eyebrow at Tess, "Paint you? Still not getting the big picture here, I'm just a Scooby Doo lovin' Earth boy."

"Not just an Earth boy, anymore." Tess reminded him quietly, not able to set aside the gravity of the situation.

Maria successfully dug out a red robe and the ceremonial white and red paint. She held them up, "While I put this on, Tess I need you to do your part. You're still all jacked up on power, right?"

Tess nodded, half knowing what was coming. Maria smiled, "Good, I need you and Kyle to call them."

"Them?" Kyle asked, looking confused.

Tess' eyes locked with Maria's, understanding hitting, the implications of what she was asking. "Everyone?"

"Everyone." Maria confirmed, dropping the red robes over herself, and grabbing the paint.

"And by everyone you mean Max and Michael? Right?" Kyle asked, looking nervously between the two.

Tess shook her head, sitting down heavily. "Everyone on Antar. Technically the Crown never passed to Kivar, so I'm still Queen. When I call they must come."

"You're gonna call the entire planet to here?" Kyle asked incredulously.

"No, you are, or at least their minds. I died, I'm not connected to Antar, to the collective conscious, anymore, but you are. When they made you one of the Chosen, they gave you a direct line to every Antarian, if there is enough power." Tess explained quietly, but with the beginning of a smile on her face.

"So I'm what? Like a channel? Because I didn't sign up for this just to be another WB or UPN, or even to be the creepy kid in horror movies who gets possessed before brutally murdered. I signed up for the cool powers and superhero part." Kyle asked, taking his own seat.

Maria tossed another robe at him while rolling her eyes, "It was the free bonus. Though once the initial call goes out, I think the channel might stay open to Tess, and through her to me, without using you as a vessel. Not sure though, did they open you as a channel when they made you into a Chosen?"

Kyle was staring directly at Tess, his eyes huge with fear, "I have no idea."

Maria's voice was slightly flippant, slightly hysterical, but her words were deadly serious. "You better hope they did, because if not this is going to hurt like hell."

……………………………………………………………

Max looked up from his conversation with Arhal when Michael and the Sheriff walked back in, "Where's Isabel? Tess? Maria?"

"You forgot Kyle. Tess and Maria are safe, they ran off with Kyle to do something. We don't know about Isabel." The Sheriff said, drolly.

Arhal smiled at the information, but Michael approached him anyway, pushing right into his face, "Is she safe? Is she going to die?"

Arhal didn't blink, he merely straightened his tunic. "She's not the one you need to worry about."

Michael didn't step back, "If you're lying to me… If you know she's in danger and let her die because of no interference. I will kill you."

Arhal stepped forward, directly into the threat. They were face to face, "I'll kill myself."

Michael swallowed, and dropped his eyes, for once stepping away first.

"Are you done? We really need to find Isabel." Max asked, looking between the two like they were unruly children.

Michael nodded glancing around the room as they moved towards the door, "Where did the rest of the welcoming party go?"

"Lookouts, neutralization of Kivar's forces, and various other tasks." Arhal fired off as their group hit the door. Five men bent on a mission, five men bent on success; Max, Michael, the Sheriff, Arhal and Nacedo.

"Where are we going?" The Sheriff asked, fingering his rifle.

"Where do you kill a king?" Michael asked.

"The throne room," Max said it quietly, he'd lived his life and his death in that room.

The rest of the walk was in silence, both on their side and on the oddly quiet state of the castle. They met no one, heard no other footsteps, saw no life.

"It's too quiet, they know we're coming. It's a trap." Max said, glancing at Michael.

Michael looked back, his eyes hard, "So? It's not like we have a choice here."

Max stepped in front of him, cutting him off. "I don't like it, Michael."

Michael stopped for a moment, "Then get out of the way and wait in the hallway. We're doing it this way, Maxwell."

"Arguing already? Is the honeymoon already over?" An amused lilting voice called out from the doorway. Kivar was there, leaning against the doorframe, looking completely composed.

Everyone turned towards him, dread on some faces, pure anger on others. "Oh. And you're right. This is a trap."

He laughed as men melted out of the doorways, encircling them. Kivar stepped back through the doorway laughing again as he glanced over his shoulder his eyes meeting Michael's, a look of resigned desperation on his features. "Unfortunately the trap wasn't for you. But bring them in anyway."

Michael pushed after him, shoving the guard who approached out of his way, "Who was it for then?"

Kivar kept his back to them as he headed for Isabel, "Let's just say you're not the only person out for my life and crown today."

Max looked over at Arhal, the question in his eyes and Arhal answered. "Nkyot. He's finally snapped."

Kivar spun back around surveying their group, "Right, again! But then again, you're always right…"

His eyes drifted past Arhal, "And who do we have here?"

"Just give us Isabel." Max said, he was too tired for these word games. He just wanted this over with.

Isabel answered looking back and forth between the three main men in her life, Max, Michael and Kivar. "Sheriff Valenti and Nacedo."

Kivar arched an eyebrow and turned his golden gaze to Nacedo with amusement, "I'm surprised you're still alive. Just a guess, but he doesn't know, now does he?"

"Know what, Kivar?" Michael spit the name out as though it tasted dirty. Advancing forward, his brown eyes unnaturally dark. Using the distraction, the Sheriff slipped forward grabbing Isabel and dragging her back towards their side of the room.

Kivar circled Michael and Nacedo lazily, like a cat stalking its prey. "Oh this will be fantastic. Why don't you tell him, 'Nacedo.'"

Nacedo remained silent, but Kivar laughed again, genuine amusement in his tones. It bothered Isabel, he was so different than he'd been a minute ago. So different than he was with her, but this was just another part he had to play. "Didn't you ever wonder how Nkyot could kidnap her without a fight from the guards you had posted right outside the door? Didn't you ever wonder why the First Order began to suspect you?"

There was a beat of silence before Rath's fury rose around them, engulfing the room, engulfing Michael. His eyes were black and hell was rising. It terrified Isabel, she knew what Kivar was doing. He was angering Michael on purpose, making so that he would have to kill him, making it easier to kill him. But Nacedo struck first, exploding power towards Kivar and her heart was in her throat.

She saw Kivar dive out of the way and then smoke was everywhere, big billowing black clouds and the Sheriff had her on the ground. She heard the snap of a neck and the sound of a body hitting the ground.

Terrified she looked up through the clearing smoke. Kivar was standing across from Michael, Nacedo sprawled at his feet. Kivar's voice was venomous, Nacedo already forgotten. This was about something much bigger than that, an older betrayal. One between the two of them, betrayal on both sides for the friendship once held so sacred. "I've always hated traitors."

"Then maybe you shouldn't have become one." Michael, or was it Rath now, she couldn't tell, said it slowly, drawing each word into a blade aimed to wound.

Kivar's eyes flicked towards her one last time, one last goodbye and she felt herself begin to shake as they launched at each other. They hit the ground hard, power ricocheting off of everything as Kivar flew backwards slamming into the wall. Michael stood slowly, wiping the blood from his lip. "You killed her!"

"I didn't have a choice." It was said with a vengeance, as Kivar send Michael flying backwards and grabbed a sword.

"You always have a choice." It was spat out as Michael drew the blade he carried. The words hit her hard, resonating in her mind. They were repeating over and over again, you always have a choice.

The blades clashed together again and again, sparks flying, "Just like you chose to betray me."

"And you chose her, betraying me." Kivar's was a primal scream, full of anguish.

Power was everywhere, pushing at her from all sides. They were both pulsing with it, using it in every stroke and thrust, in every clash of the blades their power smashed against each other. Still perfectly matched, still the compliment after all these years. They were still bound, still brothers despite the broken hearts, the lies and the betrayals. They could fight, they could kill each other all they wanted, but they couldn't deny it, couldn't deny what they'd been through together. Some things were just bound to strong.

"Why?" Michael was pushing him back, Kivar's back slamming into the wall hard. Why, so broad a term demanding everything, demanding a reason for all the acts of unspeakable evil he'd done to him.

Kivar's breath was ragged as he looked up at Michael, "Vision quest. You try to fracking deny it, it was in my head all the time, pushing at me. I was meant for the crown, and nothing, not even you, could stop that."

His eyes slid past Michael in the beat of silence that followed and found her his eyes widened, "Isabel!"

It was a scream, angry and afraid. She started to turn as she felt the hands reach out to grab her and felt the rush of the wind as the sword went flying right by her face. She stepped back quickly, staring at Nkyot, pinned against the wall next to the open door with Kivar's blade sticking out of his chest.

He looked at all of them, blood gurgling from his lips as his own fingers numbly dropped the blade he'd been holding. He took the scene in and his eyes met Kivar's asking the same question, the same broken question whose answers they all were seeking.

"Why?"

Kivar swallowed, his golden eyes finding her again, staring at her for a long second. She couldn't read what was in them, they were clouded with a million different emotions as they turned back to Nkyot. He licked his lips, as if struggling with what to say, whether to speak at all.

"Why not?" He asked, though it was rhetorical, as he slid down the wall and looked up at the ceiling, "Why not?"

Michael stared at him for a second before handing the sword to Max and walking across the room over to Nkyot. Nkyot wrapped his hands around the blade buried in his stomach and started to try and pull it out.

"You killed my wife." It was bitter, it was pure hate and loathing as Michael stood there watching him struggle.

"I killed you too, and most of the people in this room. Are you forgetting that?" He laughed, and more blood gurgled up, still trying to be flippant. Still trying to face down his death with the same fearless act he put up around the world.

Still Michael just stood there watching him struggle, watching him breathe in and out, each breath more ragged. Nkyot looked back at him, then over to Kivar, something in his eyes dying a little bit. "Just get on with it, it's getting a bit painful."

Michael stepped closer, fury and pain across his face as he shoved the sword deeper. Not enough to kill him, just enough to make it more painful, his voice was low and gravely. It was dark. "You want mercy? You killed my wife. You showed no mercy to her when you tortured her, none when you poisoned her and none when you tormented her in this life. I don't care if it's painful, I want it to be. I want to watch you suffer the way you made me suffer."

Isabel stared at him in horror, this wasn't Michael. This was purely Rath, his pain and need for vengeance radiating out from him as he stepped back and watched Nkyot struggle. She turned away, the emotion on Michael's face was too much, she didn't want to see him enjoying this. Without consciously meaning too her eyes found Kivar's, begging him, needing him to do something. She couldn't watch Michael like this, couldn't stand to see him be the monster.

In response to her silent plea, or maybe his own disgust Kivar spoke. His lilting voice was tired, his gold eyes never leaving hers, "Just kill him, Rath."

There was a beat of silence, of refusal and Kivar's eyes left hers, the regret in them too much, instead they went back to the ceiling. "If you won't do it, I will. But by the Gods, just finish it."

She turned back to Michael and Nkyot, Michael's voice cold as he stepped forward. "Any last words?"

"This time I should have killed her when I had the chance." And using the sword that was pinning him to the wall as leverage he jumped, kicking out and hitting Michael in the chest. Michael went sprawling backwards and he ripped the sword out of his stomach, swinging it idly.

He kicked Michael in the head, as he tried to get up, "You didn't think I'd just give up without a fight, did you?"

Max took a step forward and Nkyot turned his head, sending Max flying backwards, pinning him to the wall where cuffs slammed down around his wrists. He kicked Michael again as a burst of power exploded out of Michael's hands. He nimbly stepped to the side, dodging it and throwing a white powder all over Michael.

He twirled the sword in his hand, laughing as Michael tried to reach for the power he'd always held. He laughed, "Deru powder. Just like last time, eh Kivar. Still underhand, still dirty, and still dishonorable. But then again, honorable was always one of your traits, Rath, not mine."

He flung his hand out, Michael flying up to the wall against Max. Pinned there, just like her brother. He twirled around tossing the blade he'd been stabbed with aside, looking at the Sheriff, her and Kivar, laughing. "Now Vilandra, I have a question for you. Who should I kill first? Your lover or your fiancée? Or maybe the guy pointing the gun at me."

Kivar took three swift strides, coming to stand between her and Nkyot. "Get away from her."

Fury and pain flashed across Nkyot's face, at Kivar's words. His voice was bitter and mocking, "You don't get it, do you, Kivar? You've betrayed every single one of us. You don't get a fucking happy ending, no princess and castle. You're even crazier than I am if you think for one second anyone in this room is going to let you walk out of here with her. You're fighting for a woman who you murdered, she doesn't want you. If you're going to fight me, then do it for yourself."

Kivar flung out his hand, power flying at Nkyot leaving him grasping at his throat. "No, you don't get it. You're not in the same league as us, Nkyot. You never were, never quite strong enough, never quite fast enough. I will always be one step ahead."

A burst of power from Nkyot, Kivar's invisible grip on his neck loosening as he stabbed outwards catching Kivar and leaving a trail of blood across Kivar's forearm. Kivar himself went skidding backwards, slamming into the wall hard. Nkyot stalked over to him, as he struggled to climb to his feet.

"You forgot something." Michael said, dropping down from the wall effortlessly, picking up the blade Max had abandoned. "I'm not Antarian anymore, I'm human and your little powder doesn't work."

Nkyot dove to the side as Michael's power exploded where he used to be, the explosion flattening Kivar. Michael smiled brilliantly like a flash of the sun on a cloudy day, attacking with his blade. It was brilliant to watch, the swords clashing against each other, Michael's pressing on harder and Nkyot pushing back, the blades were caught and in one smooth motion Michael punched Nkyot in the face with his other hand. Nkyot dropped to the ground, sweeping one leg out and knocking Michael to the ground, sending Michael's sword skittering away. Then he was stabbing downward both with his blade and little explosions that left Michael rolling desperately to the side.

Kivar was on his feet again, unnoticed, his burst of power hitting Nkyot from behind, sending him crashing into the throne. He approached Nkyot, idly kicking Michael's sword back to where he was climbing back to his feet. It was done as an afterthought, it was done with the complete trust they'd once known fighting together in battle. Michael didn't hesitate in picking it up, or in coming to stand next to Kivar raising his hand in the matching position. Allies once again, just as they'd once been, Nkyot once again the outsider, this time the target as they faced him. Each had his right hand raised, poised, filled with power and pointed directly at Nkyot.

Nkyot laughed bitterly, hatred and disappointment coming off of him in waves. He'd tried to prove himself worthy, tried to be as good as they were and once again lost. Once again ruthlessness wasn't enough, once again he was standing there humiliated and broken by the two people he'd wanted to impress the most. Once again they stood strong and undivided, only this time it was against him. He'd worked so hard to break them apart, to divide them, and he'd succeeded. It was his ironic justice that they only thing that could bring them back together was killing him.

"I'll do it." Kivar's voice was dead, cut off from any emotion he'd once felt, cold as the ice that had once run in Rath's veins.

Nkyot was still laughing when Arhal shoved Michael out of the way taking the explosion of Nkyot's power onto himself. He was still laughing when with the slit of Kivar's blade went across his throat in one quick, final motion. No apologies, no goodbyes, just death.

"I've always hated traitors." Kivar murmured, but Isabel knew that this time he wasn't talking about Nkyot or Nacedo. This time he was only talking about himself.

She turned away from him, as he methodically wiped his blade to where Michael was scrabbling towards Arhal. He glanced her way, screaming at her. "Get Max off that wall, now!"

She did as she was told, releasing her brother, yanking him down and pulling him towards where Michael and the Sheriff were crouched. The Sheriff looking to Max, "Can you heal him?"

But Michael was talking too, "Why?"

He was coughing and Max was crouching over him, his hand on the wound.

"I hate all of this waiting. I should have gone, there's nothing here!" Alex snapped from where he was pacing the DeLuca's living room. He still had the rifle he didn't know how to use in his hand, still pretending that maybe somebody might attack and he could be the good guy.

"They'll be back soon," Liz soothed from her spot on the couch. She wasn't any less calm but someone had to at least appear to be and neither Alex or Amy were up to that job.

"What if she's hurt? I mean what if that slimy bastard killed her, or has her locked in a tower somewhere?" Alex continued on, his thoughts only with Isabel.

"Isabel can take care of herself, and even if she couldn't she had Maria and Tess. You heard what Max and Michael said, Kivar hadn't hurt them and was treating them like dignitaries…" Liz trailed off, suddenly wondering what that could possibly mean on another planet.

"I feel so helpless, like I should be doing something." Alex started.

"We are doing something! We've got it all set up for when they get back.." Liz gestured to the arrays of bandages, gauze and blankets.

"You want to do something, Alex? Why don't you come in here and help me with all of this food." Amy called from the kitchen, she was damned if she was going to be helpless.

She would do the one thing she could do for the group, have an array of food to feed them when they got back. She would heal their hunger, let them eat their sorrows, and ask all of the questions burning in her mind. So even if her hands shook as she cut vegetables, even if she jumped at every sound and even with the worry that ate at her soul she would do this. Because her battle wasn't with aliens, it was with herself, it was with staying sane through all of this.

Alex made a face at Liz and headed for the kitchen, for his version of the front lines.

………………………………………

Maria looked down at Kyle as Tess nervously squatted next to him, stroking his forehead. "Did we kill him?"

Kyle moaned in response, much to the relief of the girls.

"Are you ok?" Tess asked, cradling his heated head in her lap.

"I hate you, Maria." Kyle muttered, finally opening his eyes. The mirrored sheen that covered his gaze here seemed thinner than normal, but it wasn't cracked or broken. He'd survived his first channeling, not without considerable pain, but without being left broken as Q had been from the Gods. He could at least handle Tess and Maria coursing through his soul. He looked dreadful, pale and sweaty, like he'd run a marathon without bothering to drink any water.

She smiled in response, if Kyle could still bug her he would be ok. "Did it work?"

Tess glanced up she didn't look so hot herself, ripping her attention momentarily from Kyle. "Yeah. I hope you don't have stage fright, because we've just sent out invites to the biggest party of the year…"

Tess' eyes shifted towards the door at the sound of running footsteps, "and led them straight to us. Shit. Kyle can you stand?"

Maria waved them off, "We're not fighting, let them take us. We need our strength for later."

"But.." Kyle said sitting up and paling.

"Look, they'll take us to Kivar. Which is where Michael and the others are, just trust me." Maria snapped, as Tess helped Kyle to his feet.

The door burst open but it wasn't guards that found them, it was followers, friends. It was two of the Chosen, looking worried and radiant.

Jonreh grinned at them, "You called?"

Maria smiled and Kyle sat heavily down into a chair, still looking like death warmed over.

"I thought that must have been you, little brother. It reeked of Earth and country music." Zuri said approaching him, his huge form moving gracefully.

"The music of pain." Kyle managed weakly, while Tess rolled her eyes.

Zuri looked at him, at his weakened state. "So they turned you into their personal radio. Women. I can fix you up."

As Zuri set to work, Jonreh looked at Maria, "Why are you all dressed up?"

She shrugged not able to meet his eyes after her outburst earlier, "It is our way."

He smiled, "That it is, little sister. Their touch may have shifted on you, but power enough still remains."

She nodded and he picked up the paint, "Need some help with this?"

"Yeah. Have you seen any narka blossoms? I want some as adornments, I always used to wear them in ceremonies last time." It felt weird referring to her last life so casually, or taking so much time to ready herself. But this had to be done right, she had to look the part to play it.

Jonreh swiped the paintbrush across her cheeks, swirling it gently into symbols. "Most of them died right after Kivar took power. I think Arhal has the only narka plant left, it didn't bloom for the longest time, did it Zuri?"

Zuri glanced over from patching Kyle up, "Not till about a year ago. It made him really happy and he wouldn't share the good news with us. Jerk."

Maria smiled, she knew why it had started to bloom. It made happy to think that their plant was still alive and still blooming. It also gave her hope that they might all get out of this alive.

Max sat back, drained, as Arhal started to sit up slowly.

"Why?" Michael demanded again.

But Arhal ignored him, looking down at his hands then slowly around the room in wonder as if he was seeing the world anew. "It's gone."

"What?" Max asked, still breathing heavily.

Arhal looked at all of them again, as if seeing them for the very first time. "My gift."

Michael looked devastated, as if it was something he'd been relying on all of this time. A security blanket. "So you have no idea what happens now?"

"None. I'm no longer the Oracle." He sounded strangely overjoyed at this prospect, lighter and more mortal. It sounded as though the words had sounded strange in his mouth as he said them, changing them and rolling them around.

"Why? I mean how did this happen?" Her own voice sounded foreign to her own ears, this was unheard of. This day so full of surprises, so full of sadness, death.

"He interfered, it changes everything." The Sheriff said, sounding like he was speaking from experience.

Arhal nodded in agreement, "I broke the no interference policy, trading my gift for a life. I suppose a new Oracle will be sent soon, or maybe not. I don't know. It's so weird to not know…"

"Welcome to life as the rest of us experience it." Michael muttered, glaring at Nkyot's body, his eyes flicking upwards to Kivar who was still staring down at it, still methodically wiping his blade clean.

Isabel's eyes followed Michael's, Kivar looked pensive, as if he'd expected it to come to this, but never imagined how it would actually play out. Kivar squatted down, closing the glassy eyes. His hands reached for something at Nkyot's neck, he pulled away the dog tags covered in blood. They hung in his hand for a long moment, the light reflecting sinister shadows but somehow managing to leave the dog tags untouched, in the darkness. His eyes looked up, purposely finding Michael's, looking for Rath's.

He straightened up, still holding the bloody dog tags, "Do you remember what they said to us at our first severance ritual? Severance. The symbol of death; become familiar with it, embrace it because in the end everything you touch will die."

"What's your point?" Michael asked, abandoning Arhal and coming closer to Kivar, still holding the sword.

"We're the only two left from our class. Did you know that? And after today, there will be only one. The rest of us will be dead, just like they told us." Kivar dropped the dog tags, turning away from the body and towards Isabel.

She squeezed her hands together, they were starting to shake. She didn't want to hear what was coming as he took two steps towards her. His voice was calm, he'd made peace with all of this already.

"I meant what I said earlier about loving you but having to do this."

She nodded and wasn't surprised as he turned around and attacked. Too much had passed between him and Rath, him and Michael, in this life for him to ever be able to walk away. To ever get a chance at a peaceful ending, this was it and it hurt to watch. He'd done too much harm, conjured up too much evil to ever find peace.

The fight was mainly a blur to her, she knew Kivar's heart wasn't in it, he was fighting to fight, not to win. So much was rushing through her mind, Michael's words earlier about always having a choice, how Kivar made her feel. How everything was, how hard it was to be in this position. She was experiencing love for the first time, but it was the wrong time, it was too little too late. Kivar made her feel alive, really and truly alive, like for the first time someone was seeing her for who she really was rather than the face she showed the world. She loved Max and Michael, and always stuck by them, but she'd never really had a choice in it. They were family on Antar and bound by a secret, by a past on Earth that made them stick together. In a way it even extended outwards, to Liz, Maria, Alex, and even Kyle, they all shared this deep dark secret so she had to be with them.

With Kivar it was different, here was a choice, she didn't have to love him just because Vilandra did, or just because he was there and was her only option. He didn't have to love her, he didn't have to save her from Nkyot, but he did and he did it willingly. She should hate him, despise him for everything he'd done to her, everything he'd done to her family. But she just couldn't, wouldn't.

A sword came skidding to a halt at her feet and she looked up from her thought, Kivar was on the ground with his back against the wall with Michael standing over him holding his own sword. It was as though everything was happening in excruciating detail, she could see the sweat dripping off of Michael's hair, and the blood trailing old scars that weren't quite there and dropping from his wrists. She could see the cut on Kivar's arm gleaming in the light, and the tear in his shirt barely covering the wound in his stomach.

Michael raised his sword and her heart finally made its choice.

"No!" Her scream was frantic as she flung herself between them, coming to protect Kivar from Michael. She could see the rage and pain crashing across Michael's face, across the dark Rath that stared back at her from his eyes.

"Get out of the way, Isabel." It was a command, black ice booking no room for refusal.

A tear rolled down her cheek, her heart was racing, beating wildly now that it was finally free. It had made its choice, her heart was her master and was ruling her, she couldn't stop herself from loving him, but she could stop herself from letting him die.

"No, I won't let you murder him!" She stared back at them, at the angry and disbelieving faces. Max's face was coated in disappointment, the Sheriff's shock, Michael's anger, and Arhal's confusion and maybe amusement.

She scrabbled around, cradling Kivar's shocked face in her hands. "I love you. I can't live without you, I-"

He lifted a shaking hand to her lips, his fingers silencing her. His golden eyes were dark filled with emotion, and to her he'd never looked more human. "You have to, Isabel. There will be other chances, other lives for us. Lives not bound by duty, not fettered by alliances, but not now."

He glanced at his arm, at the cut Nkyot had put there and squeezed his eyes shut in pain for a moment. She was stroking his face, waiting for him to go on, to give her hope, tears rolling down her cheeks. Her voice trembled, "But what about my life? What about what I want? Am I supposed to just forget you? I won't let you die, I won't let you take us away…"

He took a deep breath, the tremors already starting, as his eyes met hers and held them. His voice was painful to listen to, filled with painful shards that cut them both. He was willing her to understand, to forgive, "I'm already gone, love. Nkyot put poison on his sword, he always did have to have the last word."

"No, no, no. We can get rid of it..." Her tears were harder now, sobs as she reached out to cup her face.

He turned away from her, out of her hands. His eyes found Arhal, the man who once knew everything as he dropped something out of his pocket. "You must have seen… before. You have to know what I'm asking you… Please."

Arhal held his eyes, he understood, and he was thinking. He couldn't tell the future anymore, he only had what he knew before and his own thoughts in his too empty head. It was entirely new to make a decision based on what he thought as opposed to what he knew would happen.

Finally with a heavy heart he nodded, "I will."

Kivar gave him a golden smile, it was shadowed by pain and sadness but it was a smile all the same. Perhaps it was the last smile, and thought was infinitely sad and final. Next his eyes turned to Michael, ready to ask another favor, another question. Their eyes locked, so much passing between them. Even now at the end, especially now they were still bound, still brothers and they could still understand each other. Memories of another time, of another promise bound in blood that Kivar broke. Instead of bringing that up he tried to focus on the present, on the promises and deals of this lifetime.

"We had a deal, I kept my part by killing Nkyot." His voice was quiet, pain filled and hoping but not really expecting Michael to keep his half. There it was, he'd put it out there, asked and could only hope that the brotherhood they'd once shared was strong enough to grant him this.

Michael stared at him for a long second, Rath and Michael both mixed in his dark gaze. Everything that had ever passed between them was rising around them, the memories of better times, of times where they were young and just losing their innocence. Memories of when they were trainees, bound together by power, by need, by insanity, by force. Memories of when they were brothers, leaders, friends even memories of when they were enemies, staring each other down during the final moments.

Michael was suddenly tired, he just wanted this over, to be back at home in his apartment arguing with Maria, flipping burgers on the grill. He wanted to be anywhere but here, anytime but now. He just wanted all of this, all of the betrayal, all of the ties to this life done.

He sighed, his voice infinitely weary and coated in anticipatory sadness, as he looked over at Isabel. "Fine."

As Michael started to gather the power in his palm, Kivar nodded following Michael's eyes back to the woman his focus had never really left. She was clinging to him, her eyes still searching his face. He reached one trembling hand into his pocket, and pulled something into his hand. He grabbed Isabel's hand, pressing the object into her palm wrapping her fingers around it. She started to speak, but he quieted her.

"Shhh. I love you. Always remember that." His lilting words were soft, coated in the pain that ate at his body and ripped his soul apart. His words were soaked with the regret of her two wasted lifetimes and guilt that weighed on his soul. His eyes were dark, the gold having long faded away under this final sadness, finally ready to pay the price. He'd avoided death for so long but now he was ready for it, craved it because he couldn't have the one thing he truly wanted. He stared at her, at the teardrops that looked like drops of diamond, at the golden hair, at the brown eyes that knew all of his secrets and loved him anyway. He'd never seen anything more beautiful in his life.

He kissed her one last time, drawing her face to his, letting her tears coat his cheeks as his soul brushed hers with the gentlest of touches. Just as she was falling into the kiss, right after she'd lost herself to the sensation, to the dance in their hearts, he shoved her backwards, away from him and into her brother.

Max's arms tightened around her, restraining her from behind and even as she struggled with Max it was ending. Her endless panic filled screams of "no" echoing around them.

Michael's hand was filled with power, pointed at Kivar, with their eyes locked. Kivar smiled as the power hit him, taking him from this world. He smiled as if he seeing the Gods, as if he was in a world where only he and his love existed, as if he was finding peace.

Isabel's legs gave out, her screams only getting louder as Max lowered them both to the ground, still clutching his sister to keep her from hurting herself. The Sheriff was there, helping Max as she kept screaming, as her heart shattered breaking into thousands of shards that would cut what was left of her until the end of time.

Michael turned away from the scene, from the crazed look in her eyes, shielding his own. It brought too much of his own pain back, it was too much of an echo of when she'd died and left Rath shattered. Instead he watched as Arhal went to squat next to Kivar's prone form. Kivar looked fine, no outward marks to show that his life had been ripped away, just like Pierce. He picked something up, slipping it into his pocket before closing Kivar's eyes with one final goodbye, "May you find peace."

Michael's eyes started to sting staring at the scene, he felt like he should say goodbye, say something, say anything. But he had no words to say, everything between them had been done, already said in anger and denial. Instead he went to squat next to Arhal, giving Kivar the one thing he had left to give. Giving Kivar what Kivar had given Nkyot; freedom from the past that bound them, freedom from the past that had made them into the monsters they had all become.

He pulled the dog tags from Kivar's neck, wrapping them around his hand and reading the inscription there. Seeing Kivar's past, his past, all wound up in a tiny package, staring at them he could finally let it go. Their past, everything that had happened, that he had helped to happen. He let it start to slip away, to give Kivar the one thing he'd wanted at the end; forgiveness.

"YOU! You murdered him, you killed him…" Max had lost his grip on Isabel and she hit Michael from behind, knocking him over and sending them both sprawling. Her angry fists slamming into his chest again, and again.

He held her there, wrapping his arms tightly around her. He didn't deny it, didn't argue with her he just held her. He more than anyone knew what she was going through, held her until her angry slaps subsided into dry sobs, held her until the beating turned into her clutching him. She let go, scrabbling over to the body, her movements wild and feral.

She stared down at him, at his closed eyes, at the tousled golden hair, at the cut on his arm that had sealed his fate, as she knelt next to her fallen king. She didn't touch him, merely stared, as if committing every detail to memory, memorizing the way his eyes had lit up when he looked at her. After a moment she became aware of something digging into the palm of her hand. She turned her hands over, staring at the bloody knuckles, surprised at the way her hands shook. Slowly she opened her hand to see what he'd given her, to see the only thing he'd left her with.

A ring.

An engagement ring.

A ring, perfectly forged out of unbreakable metal.

A ring set with a soulstone, set with a piece of his soul.

And Isabel began to weep as she pushed the ring onto her finger. She began to cry with sobs that wracked her entire body, with sobs so full of utter despair that they stabbed her again and again. Her golden lover was gone and for her the sun had fallen.

…………………………………………..

They met in the hallway, the two groups colliding with each other. They stared for a moment one group at Maria and Kyle in the long red robes painted the traditional red and white, at Tess and the two Chosen with the mirrored eyes. The other group at the bloody warriors, at Michael, still dripping in sweat and covered in blood, at Max carrying his broken, still sobbing sister, at Arhal, whose steps were for the first time slightly unsure and at the Sheriff who merely looked as if he'd seen hell.

"Fancy meeting you here." Kyle was the first to speak, his voice droll, though his eyes never left Isabel. He looked sad, but not all together surprised.

They fell into step together, Maria next to Michael as they both looked each other over.

"You're bleeding…" Her voice held worry, but relief.

"I'm alive. Why are you dressed like that?" His voice was bone weary, exhausted and he just wanted to go home.

She glanced over at Arhal, who walked on her other side, "I've still got something I have to do, and I have to do it our way."

They were at the portal room, she looked at the doorway, at Max walking through with Isabel and the Sheriff. "You don't have to stay. You can go now…"

He shook his head, reaching for her hand, "I'd never leave you. You know that."

She nodded, taking his hand. She did know that, and it was time for her to change the world. They fell into step again, silently this time, both their minds were too full with thoughts and regrets to speak.

They stopped at the entrance to the balcony, they could hear the crowd murmuring from there, their restlessness and confusion. He looked at her, at the rest of the Chosen who were waiting. Fear was starting to grow in his heart, fear that he was losing her to the First Order all over again, fear that this time a ritual would really kill her. Fear at what she was willing to do to herself.

"What's all of this, Maria?"

She smiled, albeit it was nervous, and for the first time he noticed the power brewing about her. He could feel it, feel it in his tired body, feel it pulsing in her mind from the bond that quasi bound them.

"My gift. It's time I used it." She didn't say anything else, just headed for the balcony, still pulling him. They all fell into place behind them, Tess and Kyle first then the other Chosen.

She let go of his hand as they neared the edge, leaving him standing slightly back, still in full view of the crowd. Instead she approached the microphone with only Tess by her side, the rest of them waiting behind her. Michael looked around and took one of the many seats, just as the Chosen had done, they looked just as confused as he did.

She smiled again, but this time she was in her element as she looked at the crowd in front of her. She reached for Tess' hand, opening the link between them, between her, Tess and Antar. She had the words, the gift and Tess had the power to reach everyone, to change history.

"Last time I stood here before you, I was full of secrets, of pain, and of the knowledge that I was going to die soon. And all of those things, buried in every single one us who had power during the reign of Zan, hurt this world. We ripped it apart because we were caught in webs of love, betrayal and power all searching for redemption. You sent the Royal Four to Earth in the hopes they may one day be able to come back and free you from the mess we all created. We have come back now for that redemption, to make Antar into a better place and to take it into the golden age. But to understand the choice I've made for this world, the direction I'm sending it, you must first understand my story, Rath's story, all of our lives."

Her voice was golden bells, echoing with the pain of another life time and the crowd was enthralled. The planet was enthralled, tuned into Maria through Tess, through the bond that held them. Tess' power touched their souls, held their attention, pushing Maria's words, her voice, her feelings through herself and out into the world.

Then Maria began to sing, letting Q flow through her, letting her life, her actions, her story out. She sang of all of their lives, their loves, their hopes of making Antar into a better place. With her words came images, memories pulled her mind, from Tess, from Michael, even from Arhal, from everyone she was connected too. She let them run through her, out into the world, giving them the gift of understanding, the gift of their lives. But most of all she sang of their deaths, of their betrayals of each other, of their sacrifices for one another and of the forgiveness they willingly gave at their deaths again and again. She told them how it all came to pass how every move they all made was done in love and how even with the best of intentions they caused their world to fall.

Their griefs matched hers, her triumphs were theirs, they experienced her forbidden love and shared in the joys and pain. And when it was all done she spoke again, their minds filled with understanding, their hearts forgiving their mistakes.

"This world isn't the world I grew up in, and we can't bring that world back, we shouldn't. You see now why our world must change. Why we must move away from the foundations that formed our society, that worked once, but in the end bound us to duty, destiny and downfall."

She paused here, looking at the crowd before turning to the Chosen that framed her, reaching out for Kyle's hand. "I propose that we abolish the monarchy, distribute the power to the ones who have continually stood by us. The ones that have been here forever, that have only worked for the good of Antar, the ones who power has not corrupted. I propose that we move back to the Gods, back to their emissaries. I say let the Chosen reign, let them lead us into the golden age."

The crowd erupted in cheers, their joy echoing back to Maria through Tess. The Chosen stood in uncertainty at the cheers, at her words, and slowly came to the edge with her. The cheers got wilder, happier even as Michael came to stand next to her. It went on like that for a long time, the cheering, the celebrating at their freedom from the reign of Kivar, even as they mourned his loss for Isabel.

It was over, it was finally and completely over. They had finished the story they began lifetimes ago, cut the ties between the present and the past and finally, finally fulfilled a prophecy that had shaped their destiny.


	41. Epilogue

**AN: Wow, it really is done. Though I've got some other ideas milling in my head for this universe, some candy but most revolving around Tess/Tav or Kivar. We'll see where those go. Anyway I loved all the reviews, so much, and am so happy we finished this journey. It's not what I started to write, the ending is so different, but I like it all the same, maybe I'll rework it into an actual story with the same basic characters, who knows. Once again, thank you to all the reviews, the comments, the questions. Thanks too: Hot Boy Wayne, RedJewel2662 **

**Magali: I wasn't sure it would ever end! Thank you so much for encouraging and helping me, and the great discussions about the characters. I couldn't let Michael die, not after all of that. As far as Isabel, it wont' be easy, but nothing ever is.**

**Misty8: I try with the MM love here, not sure how well it works. Its so much easier when they're fighting in the middle, that to have them at the end of something is hard.**

**Journeylove: Me too, I think we all want a love that strong, but minus all the heartbreak. I'm really moved that you cried, thats amazing. Writing is hard, there are a lot of scenes in here that don't match what I see in my head. I struggle with getting it to a point where I'm happy with it, where I feel that it gets across what I'm seeing but lets the reader imagine it a bit too. Mainly I just rewrite it a lot, doing scenes over. I write it out by hand first, then revise it as I type it up, then revise it a few days later on a read through. I hope that helps.**

**dangerouscutestuff: I love MM moments too, they were what made Roswell, and inspired this story. ****  
**

**Collision Epilogue**

One Week Later………

"How's Isabel?" Liz asked Max as he slid into the booth next to her. Both Maria and Tess' faces held the same worry lines hers did.

He shook his head, the movement grim, but there was hope in his dark eyes and worry in his tones. "She's getting better. She's been spending a lot of time with Michael."

Maria popped the lollipop out of her mouth, twirling it idly in her sprite as she looked back at the grill where Michael was flipping burgers. "Well, girlfriend, he's the only one of us who can ever really understand what she's going through."

Max rubbed his face, "I know, I know. I just wish…"

"Wish what? That she'd open up to you?" Tess asked, looking up from the flyers she was examining, something a bit dark in her eyes.

"No can do. I mean you've still got Liz, you're true love, or whatever Kivar was to her, and are happy. Tess and Kyle are out of the question because they, well, they have whatever it is they have that's going on. Alex is a no go, so that really just leaves Michael. I mean sure he has me, but he also has Rath, who's pretty much still kinda crazy from that time that he didn't have me because I ripped our soul in half. You know?" Maria continued on, blithely still staring at Michael while motioning idly with her hand.

Max caught Liz's eyes and smiled, he answered Maria slowly, suppressed amusement in his voice. "Well, that's one way to look at it."

Liz spoke, cutting off Maria. "What are you looking at there, Tess?"

Tess' eyes popped back up, "Oh, apartment flyers. You know, since Kyle and I are, you know, maybe, starting…" she trailed off, a blush covering her cheeks.

Maria quirked an eyebrow, nudging her in the side, while using a sing song voice. "Maybe, starting, what? A relationship?"

Tess shuffled her papers, dignity reclaimed. "A deeper friendship. Besides, I need somewhere to live now that Nacedo's dead and I don't want to keep putting the Valenti's out. It's not like they have an extra bedroom."

Liz nodded, "How are you going to pay for it? I mean, if you need a job, Courtney left so we could hire another waitress…"

Tess smiled, "Maybe. But I was going over the will with the Sheriff and it turns out Nacedo was loaded, bank accounts all over the world. He left it to me and Michael."

Her voice was a bit subdued, as bad as it had turned out, as little as she'd known about the man who raised her, she was still slightly sorry to lose the only family she'd known. Kyle had helped in his own way, feeding her sugary cereal and watching cartoons with her as part of the grieving process.

"Well, do you want to live by yourself? Or with like, a roommate?" Liz asked.

Maria turned around, her attention back to the table. Her and Tess retained a bit of the connection between them, probably always would from what they'd done together a week ago. It was like having a sister you would always be able to understand, almost like the best friend connection she shared with Liz. She looked at Tess, grinning wildly as she waved her lollipop around. "Jinkies. You should, totally, like, live with Michael."

Tess looked across the table at Liz, making a face, before turning back to Maria, amazement in her voice. "And you would be ok with that?"

Another emphatic shake of the lollipop, "Yes. In fact I would be an enthusiastic supporter of the idea. See if Michael had a roommate, he would need a bigger apartment. And this newer, bigger, apartment would never lose power because he didn't pay the bills, it would be roach free, it would actually have food in the fridge. This newer, bigger apartment would be clean, would be decorated with more than tye dyed sheets and Metallica posters. It would have-"

"I get it, I get it!" Tess cut in, with a laugh.

Liz shot a pointed look at Maria across the table, "I think what Maria is trying to say, is that you wouldn't be alone and neither would Michael. A win- win situation."

"Oh, that too!" Maria chimed in, causing Tess to laugh.

"I'll think about it, and maybe talk to Michael. Ok?" She glanced at Maria at the last part, sensing another listing of all of the positives that would come out of that living situation.

"When's Kyle getting back, from you know…" Maria glanced around, leaning closer, "Czechoslovakia?"

Max looked over Maria's shoulder at the door chime seeing Kyle and Alex walking towards them, "I'd say right about now."

They came over, Kyle squeezing into the booth with Tess and Maria while Alex merely pulled up a chair. Alex looked at Max, "How's-"

Max cut him off, already knowing what he was asking. "Better. She's over at Michael's to avoid Mom and Dad."

Kyle looked up from where he'd been spying on Tess's papers. "Isabel will be just fine. Oooh, apartments?"

"And how do you know that?" Liz challenged, torn between amusement and annoyance.

"You people just don't get that I've ascended to a higher plane, do you?" Kyle said, eyeing Liz with mock disgust.

"No, Kyle, none of us get what it's like to sell our soul for super powers. The rest of us were born with them." Tess' voice was flippant as she nudged him.

"Well, thanks for that vote of um, divine confidence, Kyle. But it's not really much a comfort in the mean time." Max's voice was neutral, he wasn't in the mood for Kyle's antics.

Alex looked sad for a moment, he hadn't really smiled all week. Her pain was hurting him too. To cover it up he turned towards Maria and Tess, "You girls are looking better."

"What about me?!" Kyle asked in mock outrage, but privately agreed. They were all still drained from a week ago, tired and a bit haggard looking. Maria and Tess were only starting to get their color back from the burnout they'd felt after they'd gotten home from Antar.

"So, what's the plan? I mean now that you guys are in power." Max asked, popping a fry in his mouth as he looked at Kyle.

Kyle reached over, stealing some of the fries. "We'll rule in pairs, with the rest of the Chosen acting as a council of advisors so we can still do the Chosen thing. The pairs will change out every few years, to keep it fresh."

"So when do you, you know, get to be in charge?" Alex asked, thinking of how power crazy Kyle had gotten the one time Michael had left him in charge.

Kyle shrugged, "I may take my turn right after we graduate. I mean, it's not like I'm going to college anyway. I can go hang out there, be worshipped, save the world, while the rest of you have to keep suffering through studying."

"But we'll have keggers." Alex chimed in, nodding at Max and Liz.

Kyle looked nonplussed for a second, then shrugged again looking at Tess. "Oooh, before I forget. You and Max have to come back so we can do the decrowning thing. It's still in your blood or whatever, and we kinda wanna keep it on world."

Max nodded and Tess slapped away Kyle's hand as he reached for another one of her fries. "Those are mine."

"Scooby snacks?" Kyle tried, making puppy dog eyes at her.

Maria ignoring them looked at the clock. "Oooh, Michael's off! Let me out!"

They obligingly stood, scooting out so that she could skip to the backroom and to her alien boyfriend.

"Michael!" She called, as she bounced through the swinging doors into the break room.

"Hey." He turned around, from his locker, throwing the apron inside of it.

She looked at the bag of food on the table and sighed, going to hug him from behind, leaning her head against his back. "Going to see, Isabel?"

He turned around, wrapping her in his arms, and dropping his chin onto her head. "You don't mind, do you?"

She sighed again, pulling away a bit so that she could look at him, "Of course not. I just wish, that we could have some alone time. I mean between school, your community service, Isabel and work we've barely gotten to see each other in the meantime."

"Hey, I invited you to that community service." He pointed out.

She smiled, "I know, and I'm still surprised I chose to sleep in on a Saturday morning rather than go to school."

He brushed a curl from her face, "You needed your sleep. You're still pretty tired from changing a world."

She looked at the bag of food on the table as he reached for it, "Is there anything I can do to help?"

He ran a hand through his hair, "No, not really. She just needs time, I think… I hope. But are we still doing that tv thing later?"

"Yep. All of us." She answered reaching up for a kiss, as she pulled him down by the collar.

He obliged, holding her close even after the kiss ended. They were both still a bit clingy, his dark eyes still following her every move and wanting to know her every whereabout.

He kissed her forehead, finally pulling away. Pulling away was still the hardest, they'd been through so much in such a little time that it was still a huge push of willpower. "I'll see you later, ok?"

She nodded, they were finally at a place where they could be somewhat peaceful with each other. The passions still raged and burned, but for once they were able to put someone else ahead of that, someone in need. There was someone who didn't have the time to fight and bicker and make up with the person they loved.

……………….

Michael walked into his apartment, seeing her sitting in the dark. "Lights on or off?"

She didn't answer, but he didn't really expect her to. Instead he flipped the lights on, walking over to his couch and dropping the bag of food on the table. "I brought pancakes, I know it's not breakfast time. But they're you're favorite."

Pain flickered in her dark eyes, and it hurt to see. "No, thank you."

"Why's that?" He asked leaning back, putting his hand behind his head. At least she was talking, that was progress. He knew the look in her eyes, had seen it before, it was the look of a memory.

"He made pancakes for me on Antar. He called it the last supper." Her voice was still dead, but for the first time it held the hint of amusement.

"He would." Michael said, almost smiling, but he held it back. It hurt to look at her, to know what she was going through, to know that a big part of it was his fault. He'd killed him, he'd condemned her to feel this way and so he'd taken it upon himself to help her through it.

"Anyway, how you feeling today? They're all worried about you, you know."

She nodded, "I know they are. I just, I'm not sure I'm ready to see them yet. They can't understand, nobody can."

He sat there, he wouldn't argue with that. He'd been through it, or a version of it, and wasn't sure even then he fully understood. Most of it was a blur now, just the endless pain that had remained when she left, the pain that cut his soul into shards and drove him crazy. Even now, in Rath's soul, the pain wasn't really gone, it would always be there, the memory, the effects still present, the scars on their soul still visible. Maybe it was why they fought so much, he and Maria, they'd hurt each other more than any two people on Earth could ever understand and even with all of the forgiveness in the world the memories remained, the little seed of hate was still planted.

She went on, looking at her hands, at the ring. "I'm so messed up inside, it's like this coin is spinning. Sometimes it lands on love and it just hurts so much, I miss him so much, and sometimes it lands on hate and I'm just angry. I'm so furious that I could scream. They're complete opposites and I don't know how to handle it without taking it out on everybody."

He shook his head, thinking of Q, of Kivar, of Maria. "Not opposites, Isabel. Hate, love, they're really just part of the same thing. See either way, they make you feel, both of them can consume you, eat you up and spit you out, and both of them can release you. No matter if you hate someone or love someone they're still the only thing you think about."

She nodded slowly, she'd never really thought of it that way before.

"So what's the opposite of love, then?" She asked, her voice was tired. She just wanted to stop feeling this way.

He thought about Maria and Fonbar, Q and Arhal, of Isabel and Alex, about the interactions that were never meant to be. But most of all he thought about he and Kivar had treated Nkyot when they were younger. "Indifference. That Fonbar guy, he was really jonesing for Q. He loved her so much, and he might have been able to handle it if she hated him. But he got consumed by it because she didn't even notice him, she could be looking right at him and not see him. In her world, he wasn't even on the map, and that had to hurt most of all, because if she'd hated him it would have been a sign that she cared."

She let his words hang in the air, not answering, merely thinking. He leaned forward, opening the bag, even if she wasn't going to eat he would.

"Does it get better?" Her voice held a seed of hope.

He stopped, closing the bag again, instead turning to look at her. His voice was quiet, almost thoughtful, but with a sharp force behind it.

"I could say it does, but that would be a lie. You saw how I was at the end, it ate at my soul day in and day out until I died and even then the hurt didn't go away. It just got buried, twisted into anger at everything. But here's the thing. You're not going through what I did, you never Granixed, your soul hasn't been ripped in half. You're going through something different, more than a broken heart but not soul shattering."

She started to object in indignation, who was he to tell her what she was going through, but he held up his hand silencing her. His voice was raw, dark, filled with the shards of Rath's soul that still cut him. It was the first time she'd seen this part of him, this aching darkness that Michael, and even Rath, kept locked away. He was thinking of another time, when the roles had been reversed and someone who loved him had helped him.

"I'm going to tell you what someone who understood told me, when I needed to hear it most. 'You'll go on living because you don't have a choice. It'll hurt, every single second, but he'd want you to. You'll see his face in every man you look at, and feel the memories everywhere but you'll get used to the pain. You won't want to sleep because he'll be there when you do, and you won't want to wake because he won't be there. The hole inside of you will slowly heal, cover itself to where you barely notice that part of you is gone. Slowly your soul will mend, patching up the holes he left, replacing what he took. And eventually you'll wake up one morning and he won't be the first thing you think about, you'll notice the world again. You'll start to feel the sun, hear the music, but you'll still think of him everyday. Eventually you'll find someone else that loves you, and eventually you may love them back.'"

Tears were shining in her eyes, "Who told you that?"

Michael rubbed his face, leaning backwards as he covered up the aching bleeding part of him. "Does it really matter? Point is, you're not the first to go through it, and you won't be the last. So buck up, start to get on with your life because he's dead and he's not coming back. I won't let you become what I was, I won't let you sink to that."

She rubbed her face, at the tears that were escaping and he felt horrible. He felt horrible for giving her the push she needed, but she couldn't wallow around in self pity like he'd done. After all, she still had her soul.

"Ok." She said it quietly.

"We're going over to Kyle's later for some tv thing, and you're coming."

"Ok." Her voice was stronger this time, if not by much. Sometimes tough love is all the love we've ever needed.

………………………………………

"So." Tess said sitting down on the couch, staring at Kyle, where he sat in lotus blossom position on the floor.

He looked up, almost startled, his voice slightly nervous "So."

"You're still doing the Buddha thing?" She asked, partly because she was curious and partly because it was an easier subject than the one she had in mind.

He shrugged, his bare shoulders rolling backwards in the wife beater he wore. She found herself glancing, for what must have been the umpteenth time, at his arms, trying to find any trace of the tattoos she'd seen there on Antar. His eyes followed hers and he smiled, "They don't show here. None of it does. It's the updated, automatic version of Clark Kent turning into Superman without having to rip my clothes off in a phone booth."

"Ah." She said, still staring at him. The tattoos might not show, but something was different, noticeably. While laughter still lurked in his eyes, it was tempered with the grace of aged moonlight around the edges.

"Do you? I mean, would you? I mean, there's this thing…and you…and I… and maybe a we…at this thing?" Kyle grimaced, as if for once he could completely understand how ridiculous he sounded. Smooth as ever he covered it up, his usual tones making it part of the plan, "See if I don't feel the shame of idiocy wash over me at least once a day, I start to worry that the world has ended. I wanted to get it out of the way early today…."

He grinned at her, the same smile she found so infectious and she caught herself grinning back without a thought. "Can I ask you something, and you'll answer under the oath that the Kyle, Tess and Alex Mini Scooby Gang made."

That same smile, a touch more serious this time. "I thought I was asking you something. Sure, Shoot. I'll answer on Scooby's honor."

She smiled back, toying nervously with a piece of hair, just like Tav had always done. Either way she knew her answer to Kyle's question, but Tav had questions of her own, that she desperately needed answers to.

"Did you mean what you said about reincarnation? About you and…him."

Kyle looked different as he gazed back at her, some of the Chosen that he'd willingly become for so many reasons, shining back at her. But even with that he was still Kyle, still her goofy, funny, reliable Kyle. "Life's a spiral, Tess, for all of us. Whether we live or die, our souls keep moving through it. Who we've been before, usually has no bearing on who we become in this life."

"Yes or no?" She heard the catch in her voice, could feel Tav's wildly beating heart within in.

Kyle stood, coming to sit next to her on the couch and she imagined she caught the glint of someone else in his eyes, even if it was for the briefest of seconds. "Yes. But it's not how it is for you, or Michael and Maria. I don't have those memories, merely the same soul."

She closed her eyes, feeling as if she'd finally freed a bird that had been caged for far too long in her soul. "Was it done on purpose?"

He shrugged, another cool roll of his shoulders. "Who knows? It wasn't done by man, pardon the pun at Antar, but if the Gods did it on purpose. I have no idea. Our souls may have danced together once before, but that's a memory only you will carry."

"I can live with that." Tess told him, feeling Tav's eternal smile in her soul.

"Good. Because, I won't let you pull any of that crap Maria now pulls on Michael, comparing him in between lives. I mean how much would that suck, you've not only got to apologize for your own screw ups but for someone else's? You don't get to guilt trip me on stuff I can't even remember, and didn't do, because it wasn't me." Kyle rattled off, reaching for, and taking her hand.

"I never said I'd go on a date with you, Buddha boy." She snapped, playfully pulling her hand away.

"Oh, but you did. See when I used the word date and you didn't slap me, that was a yes. When you asked about a past life, and you wanted it to be true so you could justify me to yourself, that was a yes. When I talked about souls dancing and you smiled, that was another yes. When we held hands while we were in mortal danger, yet another yes. So that's like four dates you've said yes to already, it's like a guaranteed month of dating right there." He explained it carefully, counting it off on his fingers.

She laughed and he smiled, but she had to argue. "Not slapping you, I like to call that self control. As far as wanting us to be linked, that could easily be explained as Tav's need to have her Granel living on in at least some capacity. As far as soul dancing and smiling, I'm a girl, it's a girly thing, I'm hardwired to smile at that. You're down to one date, and even that one can be explained as fear of dying."

"You wound me. Besides, I can now make any fantasy a date. I'm like the magic freaking time machine. Besides, I let you rip a new channel in my soul, if that's not dateworthy trust I don't know what is. Yeah, that really hurt by the way, like more than the time Michael knocked me out. So that's a definite yes, that you can't talk your way out of, because hey, your soul was touching mine and it said yes to mine." He argued leaning forward, getting right in her face.

"You know, Kyle. I have always wanted to see Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers dance…"

"Done." He smiled, catching her lips in a sweet and tender first kiss.

………………………………………

Isabel walked into the Valenti's living room with Michael and Maria, at the entirely normal scene that greeted her. There were no weird, prolonged looks at her like she'd expected there to be. Just a brilliant smile from her brother and Liz.

"So what are we watching?" Michael asked as he dropped into a chair, pulling Maria down with him. She chose the other chair, letting Liz, Max and Alex share the couch while Kyle and Tess dominated the floor.

"Buffy!" Kyle and Alex exclaimed in overly excited voices.

"Don't you people have enough paranormal in your lives?" Michael asked in disbelief, sitting up angrily.

"Says the alien." Kyle responded causing everyone to laugh. Isabel found herself smiling at Kyle's antics, and it didn't hurt. It didn't feel weird, or unnatural, or hurt like she'd thought it would. It felt, strangely normal and comforting in this world of pain that had become her existence. Michael looked sulkily back at them, his angry sullen face appearing in full force. But Maria caught her eye and winked, and she found herself almost smiling again.

"Do you have Scooby Snacks?" Alex asked, glancing her way. That was a one on one she wasn't quite ready for. She knew he would be kind and supportive, but his eyes would show all that he felt for her. And that, disappointing him wasn't something she wanted to do, but couldn't avoid doing it, because he was just going to be so nice about it. Alex was the perfect guy, perfect for any girl that hadn't buried her heart already, he was everything she wanted and the guy she felt nothing for.

Kyle shook his head mournfully then his voice becoming hopeful, "Scooby Snacks only exist at the DeLucas… Maria do you think, even with current evil passed, that your mom will still invite us for pancakes?"

"Why aren't we there again? If that's where the food is?" Alex queried looking at Maria as if she'd kicked him.

"Mom had the Sheriff over for dinner and pie. Date night." She shuddered, glancing at Kyle who topped her shudder, by rolling onto his back and playing dead.

And as she looked around the room at her friends. At Max and Liz talking quietly, attuned only to each other in a roomful of people. At Kyle making walrus noises and clapping his hands as Alex and Tess threw popcorn at him and he tried to catch it in his mouth. At Maria and Michael, who were arguing over something completely pointless. She started to realize something, it was going to be ok, because here, in this room were people who loved her, people who were willing to fight for her, and to help her fight herself.

The show started, and she fell into it, into the story being told. And when Kyle yelled at the tv, arguing with the characters her eyes slipped past him and landed on Michael and Maria. Maria was amused, watching the tv, but her eyes stayed on Michael. He wasn't staring at the tv, he was staring at Maria with endless devotion and need hidden in his eyes, and that made her think of Kivar. And she always would.

………………………………

"So where are we going on this 'date', Spaceboy? And I use the term date loosely, hoping against hope that it doesn't entail going to Slim's body shop to look at rearview mirrors, as has happened before." Maria asked, partially in babble from the passenger seat in the Jetta as Michael drove.

"Hey, I bought you a new rearview mirror as a gift." He objected, pointing out to him what was the salient point.

"No, Michael, you replaced the rearview mirror you broke. There is a very big difference between the two, Spaceboy." Her words were emphatic, the same tone she always used when she was starting to get annoyed with him.

He rolled his eyes, "Whatever."

She leaned closer, starting to get anxious. "Where are we going? I mean it's not Slim's is it? Because I really wouldn't mind, well that's a lie, I would mind."

"No, Maria it's not an auto shop. Besides I had help on this, so chill out." His hands were gripping the steering wheel tighter, his annoyance shining through.

She grinned, "Ooooh help, like help from Max? Because Max is good at all of this dating stuff, I mean look at his first date with Liz. Even Kyle is getting pretty good at this dating thing. Did you know he and Tess are at the old movie drive in on 281?"

He ignored her, not bothering to comment on the juicy piece of gossip she'd just served him. After a moment her eyes narrowed, suspicion in her voice, "Or is it like, Rath, help? Because he wasn't exactly Romance guy. You know, Shaggy, between you and your past as Rath you have a pretty bad dating track record."

"Do you ever shut up?" It was an annoyed snap, his hackles raised at her insinuations, or blatant mentions of his not so great dating attempts.

She paused for a moment, mock hurt flashing across her face. "Are you ever nice?"

He glared at her in silence from the driver's seat, turning the car off the road. She looked out the window, at the rocky formation that dominated the night sky.

"The granolith?" She guessed, as they climbed out of the car, Michael grabbing a basket from the backseat.

He shrugged, placing a hand on her back to steady her as they headed up the mountain, "It's got a free light show."

"You are so cheap!" She exclaimed, but was smiling anyway.

"Yeah, being a cook in a diner tends to pinch your pockets…" His voice was droll as he waved his hand opening the cave.

She walked in and groaned, "I forgot that it's through the ickiness that once was your pod."

"You are such a princess. But ladies first." He was amused, and enjoying this.

She glared at him one last time, muttering about never dressing up for dates with him again and slid through the pod and into the chamber. He followed shortly, opening the basket and throwing a tye dyed sheet down on the ground. She raised an eyebrow at it, but decided not to comment, at least he was trying. Instead she sat down on it when he patted the ground next to him.

"Are we having a picnic?" Happiness and surprise was creeping into her voice.

He scratched the back of his head the way he always did when he was a bit unsure with her, "That ok? You invited me on a picnic once…"

She nodded, deciding not to point out that it was in a message she'd left on his answering machine over summer, one of the many messages he'd never responded to. Instead she leaned her head against his shoulder, loving the way his arm automatically snaked around her.

"What'd you make?" Her voice was curious, and she was starting to get hungry.

He shrugged, "Fruit salad, grilled cheese and ice cream."

"Ice cream?" She asked, staring at the lights twirling across the opposite wall.

"Super powers can keep it cold, you know." His response, even using Kyle's pet word made her smile.

"You were really brave, and strong, and all of that, Spaceboy." The words came tumbling out of her, surprising them both. She hadn't really meant to bring it up until later.

He was still staring straight ahead, watching the lights. "So were you."

She squeezed his bicep, "Not the same thing. I didn't have to.."

"Kill someone? Again?" H cut across her, his voice sharp.

She was quiet, for once it wasn't her place to talk but to listen. Instead he pulled away from her, "Look, Maria. We could do the huge emotional thing, rehash our feelings or whatever, but we've been there done that. I just want to move on."

"Can you?" She asked, looking at his dark eyes. He didn't answer for a long moment, so they sat in silence, the picnic forgotten.

"Rath's still pretty….. shaken up over it all. Vengeance was his whole undead life goal, and now he's had it, kind of, and it wasn't really what he was looking for." He leaned back, looking at the ceiling.

"I wasn't asking about Rath. I was asking about you."

He still didn't look at her, instead keeping his gaze locked on the ceiling. "We're almost one and the same, now. After that merging, I don't think we'll ever truly be separate again, his actions, my actions, they're all so intertwined. I mean, I'm still me, but with a bit of him left over."

"That's not necessarily a bad thing,-" She started, but he cut across her, finally dropping his eyes to hers, holding them there and locking them.

"Maria, I'm a murderer. No matter how you cut it, or justify it, I've killed two men, and Rath. Rath's killed more than I can count. Maybe Kivar was right, that everything we touch dies. I can't, won't let you…" He trailed off, leaving the words hanging, his voice taut.

Maria sighed, placing her hands on either side of his face. "I don't care if you and Rath aren't two people, or even if you are. His burdens aren't yours to carry, his past, their past doesn't have to influence our future."

"Maria, I don't care. I don't want you to get hurt because of this, because of what I am." His voice urgent.

She sighed again in annoyance, "Do you really think I'm just going to go away? I'm pretty sure we've established that this relationship isn't ending, that we're live all or end all. Michael, we put Romeo and Juliet to shame. Our souls, soul, whatever, isn't going to stop. I mean look at what Rath did for Q, he couldn't live without her so he died with her. Why do we always have to be breaking up and getting back together? Can't we, for just once, try having a relationship before we self destruct and end it again?"

He blinked at her, unsure of how to respond. All of his reasons that had seemed so clear just a minute ago now seemed stupid and muddy in his mind. She threw her hands up in the air, standing up and going to stare into the Granolith.

"I mean, come on! I thought we were supposed to be the happy ending!" Her voice was annoyed, angry, upset and wanting.

He stood, stepping over the forgotten picnic and going to stand behind her. She didn't notice, simply staring at the center of the Granolith as if thinking of everything that had come to pass in this room, everything that had passed between the two of them, the four of them.

"Maybe we are." There was the rare undercurrent of hope in his voice as he whispered it.

She turned around slowly, placing her hands on his chest as she stared up into his eyes. He looked down at her, intensity blazing through his dark eyes as he dropped his lips to hers. She smiled against his mouth as the halves of their soul began to dance, to twirl and step, always in time to an entirely new dance they were creating together.

Fin.


	42. Epilogue 5 years later

Just a quick update: If anyone is interested I've expanded on this story into an original one (written and edited much much better). It's very similar, just focuses more on "Bantar" J. Unfortunately, there is no Kyle but a lot more Michael and Maria and a different take on Kivar(Q and Rath…or as they become Vessa and Daran).

Vessa is a priestess with an expiration date and Daran the General who finds himself protecting her against his own inclinations. Varik, cursed or blessed, the last prince of his people whose caught between his loyalties to Daran and the call of the Gods. On Bantar love can be a poison that has the power to finally unite their world or start the greatest war ever seen.

Anyway, if anyone is curious email me at . I'd love to give you the lulu link or the ridiculously long manuscript (before it gets changed, once again!)

Onto Epilogue 2.0

….

Queensland, Australia

Isabel made her way to the small park bench with a sigh, it had only been two weeks before the novelty of Queensland had worn off. Rome had lasted the whole semester, London over a month and yet in Queensland she simply felt sad. Five years and she was no closer to what she was looking for and no farther than what she'd been.

Five years, her heart dropped as she glanced at the ring she still wore, five years to the day. How had she managed to forget that, how had she not felt her heart ripped in half again? She drummed her fingers on the bench, supposing that it was progress at least.

Swoooosh. She swung her head around at the all to familiar noise, unsurprised when Kyle sauntered out from behind a tree. His hair was longer than last time she'd seem him, his eyes still full of moonlight and his voice coated with the accent he was acquiring. "Hey, Isabel!"

"Bel-" She began, but he cut her off with a hand.

"I'm not calling you that. Changing your name doesn't reinvent yourself or obliterate your past." He sat on the bench next to her.

No, she thought, they'd learned all to well that you can't run from your past. That it's burdens and mistakes would follow you through life times and across galaxies. "How's Alex?"

To his credit, Kyle only grimaced. "He's….better."

She nodded, Alex would eventually get over her, but whether she would get over her guilt for all that happened between them she wasn't sure. "Dating anyone?"

"No, he's still hoping you'll come around." Isabel shook her head at that.

Kyle's mood switched suddenly, the excitement he'd been holding in bursting forth. "Well…? How did it go?"

"How did what go, Kyle?" It was almost a snap.

He looked at her, "What time is it? Did I get it wrong?"

She glanced at her watch, in amusement. "10:35."

Kyle's eyes bugged out, as he looked anxiously down the path. "I'm too early! Dang, earth time is tricky."

She almost giggled, "The Time man finds time tricky? Oh I'll have to tell Tess."

He popped up off the bench, his voice haughty. "I still prefer Scorpion Slayer."

"Changing your name doesn't change who you are. Sound familiar?"

He stuck his tongue out at her, disappearing back behind the tree. "I guess I'll always be That Human Guy then."

…...

She looked after Kyle for a long time, only to feel someone watching her. She spun back to the path finding it was tall sandy blond haired man with light brown eyes and a dog on a leash. "Can I help you?"

"Isabel?" His Queensland accent was thick, her name a statement more than a question.

She tensed automatically, nobody here knew her by that name. She took a deeper look, her muscles tensing even further. Her breath was shaky, she had to ask even though she knew. "Do I know you?"

"Yes." He paused to sit down on the bench next to her, his shock fading into his old confidence. "I'd like to think I'm rather hard to forget."

A strangled noise escaped her throat at that. She focused on her lap, "What's your name now?"

"Kevin." He was careful not to touch her, not to ignite that fiery spark unless she wanted it.

"How?" It was almost a sob. She'd looked so hard, waited for so long.

He wrung his hands, his voice thoughtful. "I think.. I think Arhal's intention was that it would be like Maria. I would be reborn, no conscious memories of my past life. But that's not what happened….instead of getting a baby I got this man."

He shot her that familiar half smile, almost clinical in his description. "He was brain dead from a car accident that killed his wife. His soul, from what I can tell, followed hers and they were just keeping this body alive."

"So..so do you have his memories?" Asking questions was easiest for now.

"Only muscle memories. The doctor's called it amnesia, apparently it's common for coma victims to wake up with different personalities." A half smile, "Makes you wonder how often it's the same person waking up, doesn't it? His family and friends are nice….I've grown fond of them."

It was only fitting that Kivar would have an accent again. She closed her eyes. "How long?"

He wrung his hands, "About three years, now."

It burst out of her, "Why? Why didn't you come find me?"

He caught her eyes, looking away. "I did. As soon as I could, but you seemed happy. You were with Alex and when I talked to him he was about to propose. Who was I to insert myself into your life again? You'd moved on…and I, well I didn't deserve a chance at a happy ending anyway."

She stared at the ring she wore, the one she'd been given on Antar. Yes, Alex had proposed had tried to change out this ring with one from him. That was when it had all blown up, when she'd finally broken down and they ended things in fireworks that made Michael and Maria look tame. That was she'd fled to other countries and other lands.

She caught his gaze, "I wasn't happy….I was pretending. No, not pretending exactly but trying." She smiled at him, "It didn't work."

"No," he agreed his eyes stuck on the ring. "I can see that."

"I've dreamed about you, all the time." Her voice was shaky, it was what ultimately had kept her from being happy. "Were you doing that?"

A shake of blond hair, "Nope. I'm completely human now, no super powers."

She studied his face, ruggedly good looking in his mid twenties, a face she could love. Though she would have loved him no matter how he turned up. He reached for her hand, stilling a few inches above it before withdrawing with an effort. "How's Rath?"

Rath, never Michael for Kivar, though in the end the name didn't matter. They were one in the same now, Rath too strong to lie dormant, too blended to care. She managed a smile, "Good. Michael's paintings are getting good money and Rath teaches martial arts."

Kivar, no Kevin, smiled at that. She smiled back, "Kyle calls it his little army. Only in Roswell could you have an alien dojo and have it be wildly popular."

He laughed at that, a warm rich sound that wasn't fettered by guilt or the weight of responsibility. She began to laugh too and found she couldn't stop. Her laughter turned to tears and his arms went around her, cradling her as their souls took up a new dance.

…..

"Done!" Maria declared, surveying her handiwork.

Tess smiled at her in the mirror, touching one sophisticated curl. "It's perfect! Thank you, I know it's your day off."

Maria yawned, "And it's early."

"It's eleven, Maria. I swear you and Michael are leaders in the anti- morning movement." It was a familiar phrase, one born out of living first with Michael then sharing this house with Michael, Maria and Kyle when he was around.

"More of a Rath day." Maria said absently, the only one able to keep up who was more in charge.

"Does that mean Q gets to come out and play?" Tess began her makeup.

"Nope, she's still in timeout." She handed her the lipstick, "Aren't we supposed to see your better half today?"

"He's coming back for the book launch, or going to try anyway. Things have been crazy back home, apparently."

Her first book had been a best seller, based off of a planet far away, and the sequel was expected to do just as well. She published out of the UK under an old name to keep the suspicion off of Tess Harding, college student.

"Crazy? How so?" Maria was invested, she was the one who had bound them to a different government. She would carry the triumph if it succeeded, or the guilt if it failed.

Tess put the makeup down, turning to face her. "Nothing major. Kyle says they have to pick the ruling pair more carefully, that's all. They had two very peaceful Chosen last time and it made them seem like an easy target."

Maria pursed her lips, "And now they have Kyle and Jonreh….the exact opposite."

"Kyle's peaceful!" Tess protested.

"Compared to my alien, maybe." It caused them both to laugh, to break the tension.

"Who are you comparing me too?" Michael appeared in the doorway, Rath's darker gaze staring at them.

He came over to them, dropping a kiss on Maria's forehead. "Where's Buddha boy?"

Swoosh, the portal opened and Kyle stepped out. "Present!"

He pulled Tess into a hug, "How's my girl? Ready for her big day?"

Michael pulled Maria from the room, giving the other two a few minutes of privacy. "Max called, to remind you to call Liz. It's their anniversary."

She slapped a hand over her mouth, "I totally forgot! How could you let me forget their first anniversary?"

"Hey! Don't blame that on me. I told Max to remind you ages ago and he remembered. I did my part!"

"We're going to have to find somewhere in Boston to do same day delivery flowers….well you are."

His dark eyes darkened and he scowled at her. "I am doing no such thing. Just get Kyle to take them something, he's free."

"For the last time: I am not a magical courier. I am simply on a higher plane than the rest of you and time travel is a perk. Like a CEO getting a private jet." Kyle and Tess were in the doorway, his arm slung casually around her waist.

"Pleassse?" Maria's lips pouted, "Don't make me beg!" She looked to Michael for help, her eyes imploring him to convince Kyle.

He responded to her plea. "Don't make me threaten!"

"As if you'd dare." Kyle smiled at them both. "Remember who's running the alien planet now! Yeah!"

"You owe me, Kyle." Michael's voice was serious, he was not going to listen to Maria complain about this all day.

"Yeah? For what?" The cowboy was back in those moonlit eyes.

"Who did you call when Antar got threatened? And who showed up to let all of your enemies know that Rath was still alive and still watching over his planet?" Rath had thoroughly enjoyed that visit, had bathed himself in the glory of destruction.

Kyle paused, debating. "Oh, that favor. Well I might as well see the whole crew today, just need to add Alex in somewhere."

"He's going to come to the book launch." Tess offered.

Maria narrowed her eyes, "The whole crew? You saw Isabel?"

Kyle froze as if he'd been caught, glancing warily at Michael then away agian. "Yeah, I stopped by for a, uh, uh, few minutes."

"To do what?" Tess' narrowed eyes matched Maria's, still sisters in solidarity.

"See an old friend?" Panic, he couldn't look Tess in the eyes.

"What are you hiding?" Maria was advancing on him, Michael doing nothing to stop her as he looked bemused.

"Tell her about the book release?" Kyle tried again, he'd gotten too used to being worshipped to be able to handle Maria and Tess like this.

Tess started, but it was Rath's voice that cut her off. "She finally found him, then?"

Kyle, struck mute, merely nodded. Hysteria was rising in Maria's voice, "Who? Who did she find?"

"Who do you think?" Michael again, the automatic snap shooting back at her.

She rolled her eyes at him, but Kyle had regained a bit of his control. "How did you know? How did you know he'd come back?"

Michael flashed a mysterious smile, he still kept his own council and carried his own secrets. "I felt it."

Silence at that., a moments marvel at a bond so strong that even across death, across lifetimes, they were still tied.

Tess broke it, going to squeeze Maria's hand for a moment. "Are you going to kill him again?"

"Wasn't once enough?" He sighed, there was so much and so little to it. "I've walked his dreams… he's harmless enough."

Kyle nodded at that, "Tess, we're going to be late and you know how I hate that."

She nodded and they left, leaving Maria and Michael, Q and Rath on two sides of an issue.

"Why didn't you tell me?" It was Q's gift bleeding into Maria's voice, both indescribably hurt by such a huge omission.

"Because it was none of your business." An angry snap, a hand mussing already mussed hair.

"None of my business,? He had me killed once!" Pain and anger this time.

He turned to face her, suddenly tired of the fighting and the making up they could go on and on with this issue. "Kivar was my business, is my business. You've been removed from that equation, your life is more sacred to him than his own at this point."

He paused, unsure how to explain that as strong as his bond to her was there would always be one to Kivar. He couldn't, but she understood anyway. "Look, it's Isabel's business now, no one else's."

And for once, she simply let it go, the anger draining away. She walked to him, letting him engulf her in his arms, "Think you'll be friends this time?"

"I don't know." And that was the truth. He didn't know anything about the path this life would take, not anymore. "But I know this."

The kiss was long and sweet, letting them melt into the certainty that was a love that had crossed lives, a love rooted in each unique relationship, slightly different each time. Rath and Q's had been forbidden and intense, coated still with his anger at her betrayal, still with his madness and her aching sadness. Michael and Maria's love was fiery and protective, short-tempered and deep rooted

Michael was certain of one thing at the end of every day, felt it in his bones every moment, even when Maria was screaming at him from across the room. He knew it deep in his soul, past Michael, past Rath, past even the steady stream of anger that ran strong each lifetime: they were the happy ending, the no more second chances life. It was all he'd asked for.

….


End file.
